White Flint Cycle Track Would Be Montgomery County’s First

Woodglen Drive cycle track proposal, via MCDOT

Almost a year after sharrow markings and a shared-use sidewalk were supposed to be added to Woodglen Drive in White Flint/North Bethesda, officials are proposing a cycle track that would be Montgomery County’s first use of the strategy.

In a presentation on Aug. 11 to the White Flint Implementation Advisory Committee, MCDOT’s Patricia Shepherd and Bruce Johnston outlined the project that will likely be seen as an improvement from the previous plan. (For more details on the presentation, see this post from the Friends of White Flint.)

Cycle tracks are seen as one of the most inviting pieces of bicycle infrastructure because the routes include buffers from vehicle parking and regular traffic lanes. As opposed to a marked bike lane, the cycle track won’t be close enough to a lane of parked cars to risk colliding with an opening car door.

15th Street cycle track in D.C., via MCDOTThe cycle track proposed for Woodglen Drive will run from Edson Lane, the terminus of the off-road Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Nicholson Lane.

The presentation shows two options for the continuation of the cycle track from Nicholson Lane to Marinelli Road, but that portion of the project is likely a few years off as it depends on the proposed redevelopment of the existing shopping center.

The eight-foot wide, two-way cycle track from Edson Lane to Nicholson Lane will be on the west side of Woodglen Drive and be separated from a parking lane by a two- or three-foot wide buffer area that includes plastic posts.

There would also be green-painted pavement to highlight “conflict areas,” where the cycle track crosses intersections or driveways.

Johnston and Shepherd showed photos of an existing cycle track on 15th Street in D.C. that looks very similar to the proposal.

Green zones to illustrate driveways and intersections where bicyclists might come into conflict with vehicles, via MCDOTPlanners and MCDOT will brief the Planning Board on the proposal at the Board’s meeting on Sept. 4.

The cycle track would leave Woodglen Drive with space for a seven-foot wide parking lane on the west side of the roadway, a 10-foot wide southbound travel lane, a 10-foot wide center turn lane and an 11-foot wide northbound travel lane.

There would no longer be curbside parking on the east side of the road, which runs past the Rockville Whole Foods location and North Bethesda Market development.

The cycle track would be one of a few bicycle facility improvements to come to White Flint. MCDOT added a bike lane to Marinelli Road and are considering a cycle track treatment for Nebel Street.

Images via Montgomery County Department of Transportation

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up