Montgomery County Council member Evan Glass is introducing a bill intended to increase safety for cyclists.
Under the proposal, drivers would be barred from standing, parking or otherwise blocking designated bike lanes.
Glass told WTOP part of the impetus for the bill was county data that showed there were 59 cyclist crashes and one death in Montgomery County in the first six months of the year.
“If there is a vehicle parked in the bike lane, the remedy would be the same as if there was a vehicle parked in an emergency parking space,” he said, adding that the county’s Department of Transportation would enforce a fine worth up to $250.
Glass said the county would not be alone in working to keep cars from blocking the county’s more than 100 miles of designated bike lanes.
“These rules are already in practice in the City of Rockville, in Howard County and in the District of Columbia,” he said.
Glass said, if enacted, the provision would create a “much larger network of safe bicycle infrastructure throughout the region.”
Peter Gray, with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, joined Glass at a news conference where the council member announced he’d be introducing the bill on Tuesday.
“When somebody blocks that space, it forces the cyclist back into the lane of car traffic, and that’s not safe, so we want to prohibit that practice,” Gray said.
The introduction of bike lanes in Montgomery County hasn’t been popular with everyone. One project that caused controversy was the installation of bike lanes along Old Georgetown Road.
Gray said a lot of opposition to bike lanes has to do with where and how the lanes are introduced.
“I think when bike lanes are put in, maybe there hasn’t been sufficient notice by the government” to make it clear how traffic patterns will change, he said. “When a bike lane is new, the cars have to negotiate a different style of driving.”
But, once drivers adapt, Gray said drivers and cyclists can “coexist peacefully.”
Glass, who is running for county executive, is the lead sponsor of Bill 28-25. A public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 30.
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