Year-end Review

Here's a a quick recap of new Pedestrian/Bicycle infrastructure installed by the City of Laurel this year:

Traffic Calming

• New traffic calming island at Tenth Street & Montrose Avenue
• New bump-out at Main Street & Fifth Street.

Bikeways

• Completed Phase 1 of the Laurel Bikeway MasterPlan, comprising three miles of striped/signed bike routes
• Installed the City’s first on-street bike lanes and sharrows.
• Procured 16 custom bike parking hitches to be installed at various public locations around the City.
• Constructed 4th Street boulevard (CIP)

New sidewalk/paths

• New pedestrian/bike path at Fourth Street and Cherry Lane for direct access into Gude Lake Park.  Path was made with 90% recycled material.
• Sidewalk repair along parts of Tenth Street; Phair Place; Clubhouse Boulevard; and Fourth Street as part of City’s CIP.
• New sidewalk on west side of Van Dusen from Laurel Oaks Lane to Cherry Lane
• New sidewalk on west side of 10th Street from Phair Place to West Street (CIP).
• New Sidewalk along 9th Street near Park Ave.
• Widened sidewalk on Cherry Lane at 4th Street to accomodate bikers and pedestrians.

Pedestrian crossings and related improvements

• Added pedestrian countdowns signals (CPS) and audible pedestrian signals (APS) at Van Dusen Road & Cherry Lane; Van Dusen Road & Killbarron; and Main Street & Lafayette Avenue.
• Installed new cross-walks at Laurel Lakes Avenue and Cypress Street; Van Dusen Road & Cherry Lane; Van Dusen Road & Olive Branch; Tenth Street & Montrose Avenue; Clubhouse Boulevard & Greenview Drive (CIP); Ward Street & Montrose Avenue; and Main & 5th.
• Added Street lighting on 900 block of 5th Street and on Northlake Court.
• Planted 48 street trees.

All in all, a good year for walkers and bikers in the City of Laurel.

Traffic signal requests on State roads

Periodically, the City requests traffic signals or pedestrian signals on State Roads that run through Laurel, but are maintained by SHA:  MD 198, MD 197 and US 1.  This year, we requested signals at three such locations;

• MD 198 in front of the Amish Market (pedestrian signal only)
• MD 197 at Clubhouse Blvd. (pedestrian signal only)
• MD 198 at 5th Street (Gorman Ave)

Here is an update:
The pedestrian signal in front of the Amish Market was granted and has been installed.  The pedestrian signal at MD 197 & Clubhouse has been approved, but no installation date has been provided.  The full traffic signal request at Gorman Ave and 5th Street has been denied, citing insufficient pedestrian or vehicle crossing traffic.  SHA conducts several warrants for both safety and traffic delay when determining whether or not a signal is warranted. The intersection of Gorman & 5th Street did not meet these warrants at this time.  As indicated by SHA in our correspondence, growth at or near that intersection may change the calculus in the future.

Right Turns on Red to be Prohibited at 4th & MD 198

Within the next few weeks, State Highway Administration (SHA) will be prohibiting right turns on red for drivers on northbound 4th Street at its intersection with Gorman Avenue (MD 198 eastbound).  When the signage is installed, the City will post a DPW news alert.

How Do We Commute?

The Census Bureau just released their data from the 2005-2009 American Community Survey. Among the myriad data collected, is a survey on how people get to Work.  In the City of Laurel, the commuting modes are as follows:

• 72%  Drive alone
• 11%  Car pool or Van pool
• 11%  Take Public Transportation
• 3%    Walk to work
• 2%    Work from home
• 1%    Other means

These commuting modes don't differ significantly from the overall State averages.  The City of Laurel has a slightly higher percentage of workers that Car Pool, Walk, and take Public Transportation - but that can be expected in a City.

More Street Lights for 5th Street

At the City's request, BGE will be adding has added a couple of overhead street lights and upgrading a couple of the existing lamps on the 900 block of 5th Street, between Montrose and the new Police Station HQ.
Updated:  12/13/2010

Walk Score Heat Map for City of Laurel

WalkScore has put together "walkability" heat maps for the 2500 largest cities in the US. The maps attempt to quantify, visually, how walkable each neighborhood is within a City.  Here is Laurel's Map or look at other Cities in Maryland.

City of Laurel Walk Score Heat Map

Navigating the Intersection of 4th and Cherry by Bike

Yesterday, the City's contractors finished resurfacing 4th Street behind the Laurel.  As soon as we can get some decent weather, DPW will stripe out the lane markings. There will be some subtle changes to the lane striping heading southbound as you approach Cherry Lane and Gude Lake.  Here is the previous lane configuration on 4th Street, with a left turn lane and a right turn lane:

Left and right turn lanes on 4th Street, heading south

Now, here is the new striping layout for the southbound approach on 4th Street.  Most notably, the bike lane that is on the right, shifts toward the middle of the approach:

New striping layout.  Representation only.  (click  for larger size)

If you're a driver, nothing changes - you will still have a left turn lane and a permissive right turn lane.  However, if you are a biker, you will take the center bike lane.  This allows you to go straight toward Gude Lake or turn left, without fear of a "right hook" collision with a car.  As shown with the green arrows, bikers can use the widened median opening on Cherry, with the widened sidewalk on Cherry and the new hiker/biker trail in order to access the paths around Gude Lake.   These new features also allow inexperienced bikers to turn left to access Laurel Place or Route 1, without having to bike on Cherry Lane (which is still legal).

Speed Cameras are Up and Operational

The City of Laurel has begun  installation of its portable speed cameras, and it is currently in its 30-day "warning" period.  After the warning period, the fine will be $40.00 for violators traveling 12+mph over the speed limit.

Survey on walking conditions

We are taking a survey of City residents on the condition of our walking infrastructure and how we can improve it.  Please take a moment to fill out our short anonymous SURVEY.
click HERE to take the survey

Survey is now CLOSED.  Thank you for your participation.

Edmonston, Maryland's Green Street

This post, while not about Laurel, may still be informative to our City's environmentally-conscious residents.
Yesterday, I stopped by the official street dedication of the greening of Decatur Street in Edmonston, MD.  They received a Federal Grant and applied it to:

• Reducing stormwater run-off
• Installing new LED overhead street lighting
• Adding bike lanes
• All new ADA compliant sidewalk and ramps
• Decorative, high-visibility crosswalks

Words can't do justice to the planning and effort put forth by Edmonston's Mayor Ortiz and his Staff, so here are some pictures that I hope will:


View of Decatur Street looking West toward Anacostia River



Another view of Decatur Street, showing bike lanes and street lamps

Edmonston is lucky to have the Northeast Branch Trail pass through their Town

90% of the stormwater run-off is collected in curbside biorention cells.

Another view of the bioretention cell

Yet another view.

New LED street lamps, powered by wind energy

LED bulb

Sidewalk widening on Cherry Lane

The City of Laurel is expanding the width of the sidewalk along Cherry Lane at 4th Street.  This is to accomodate both pedestrian and bikers access to the trails around Gude Lake from the newly-constructed access path down from the intersection of 4th and Cherry.  Further, it will allow cyclists on 4th Street access to the Gude Lake trails via the widened crosswalk/median-openings and expanded sidewalk. The picture below highlights some of the new and pending changes.

Yellow captions indicate new or pending changes to 4th and Cherry.

4th Street Boulevard Construction

Construction is underway on the final piece of the 4th Street Capital Improvement Project.  This project includes the transformation of this...


4th Street near Ashford Blvd

 ...into this:


Cross-section of 4th Street, with bike lanes and tree-lined median

The tree-lined center-medians will aid in traffic calming on this road and also will allow for better traffic management, when traffic picks up again on the Laurel Mall site.  DPW crew are currently installing bikes lanes, and contractors are repairing sidewalk, curb-and-gutter.  A new pedestrian crossing is being installed at the intersection of 4th Street and Ashford Boulevard.   In addition, the crosswalks and median openings at the intersection of 4th and Cherry will be widened to 14' wide on both sides of the intersection. These wider crossings will allow for easier and safer pedestrian and bike access from 4th Street to the Gude Lake, via the newly-built connecting path.  When all the concrete work is complete, contractors will mill and overlay select portions of the road. Construction is expected to take up to a month, depending on weather conditions.

DPW crew installing bike lanes on 4th Street today

Transportation & Public Safety Committee Meeting

The next Transportation & Public Safety Committee Meeting will be held in room #2 at City Hall on October 26th at 7pm.  City staff from DPW and LPD will be there.  The meeting is open to the general public, as well as committee members.

Effects of Traffic Calming on Montrose Ave: Before and After Study

Traffic calming has previously been shown to reduce instances of speed in the City.  And now here's more poof:

This summer, the City installed a traffic calming island in the intersection of Montrose and 10th Street in order to slow down motorists on Montrose Ave, which has a speed limit of 25mph. This new concrete center-island median is bisected with a ladder-style crosswalk and has added signage to improve visibility.  DPW conducted a "before" study to determine the number of speeders prior to its installation. After letting drivers adjust to the presence of the new island for a couple of months, we conducted an "after" study to compare the island's effect on driver behavior.  Here are the results:

1. Speeders in excess of 25 mph decreased from 72.5% of all vehicles to 41.3% of all vehicles.
2. Speeders in excess of 30 mph decreased from 47.7% of all vehicles to 14.1% of all vehicles.
3. Speeders in excess of 35 mph decreased from 19.4% of all vehicles to  2.4% of all vehicles.
4. Speeders in excess of 40 mph decreased from 4.7% of all vehicles to 0.3% of all vehicles.

The results, while not perfect, show that speeding drivers slow down dramatically when there is a large concrete island in the middle of the road; speeding drivers apparently prefer slowing down over crashing. Call it blunt, but nothing else reduces speed as much, or is more cost-effective than simply removing, by design, the ability to speed.

Before and After Study showing effect of traffic calming on Vehicle Speeds

New Pedestrian Signal Installed at Cherry Lane & Van Dusen Road

This week, the City is installing a new push-button pedestrian signal to allow for safe dedicated crossing of Cherry Lane at Van Dusen. ADA-compliant pedestrian ramps were installed on the "pork chop" island, as well as on the southeast corner, to accomodate the crossing. 

New Signalized Pedestrian Crossing at Van Dusen Road & Cherry Lane

Weather permitting, the City will install has installed a crosswalk this week  in order to finalize the crossing.  This crossing will allow pedestrians to safely cross Cherry Lane (ADT of 22,000 cars) without having to walk down to the nearest pedestrian signal at Ashford Boulevard, over a 1/4 mile away.

City Hall gets custom bike rack

Click on Picture to Enlarge

New MD law on passing bicyclists

As of October 1st, 2010, Maryland law now requires that when drivers pass a bicyclist on the road, they must give at least 3 feet separation between their vehicle and the bike. Exceptions to the rule include:

1. A bicyclist is not riding in the designated bike lane
2. A bicyclist has taken the lane.  Bicyclists should use the entire lane on roadways that are too narrow for bikes and cars to share comfortably.
3. The road isn't wide enough to legally pass with 3 feet separation.

Aerial view of Laurel: Google updates its maps

A month ago, Google's satellites passed over Laurel and they updated all aerial imagery of the City.  There, you can see changes made to the City over the last few years.  Below, are some of very projects that WalkLaurel has mentioned over the last year or so.

Roundabout at Montrose/Harrison

Traffic Calming Island at Montrose/10th

Intersection of Montrose/4th looking spiffy.  Note the Sharrows

New Path connecting Gude Lake with Cherry/4th

 New Pedestrian Signal and Sidewalk at Van Dusen/Killbarron

New Sidewalk and pedestrian ramps at Van Dusen and Cherry

The City's first Bike Lanes, on 4th Street

Decorative crosswalks at 4th and Montgomery

Bulbout and decorative crosswalk at Main and 5th

 Decorative crosswalks at Montgomery and Sandy Spring

Finally, the future ICC interchange with I-95. And the empty land that will someday be Konterra Town Center 

City Branding with Bike Parking

The City has purchased new custom bike hitches. The hitches will be placed at municipal buildings and parks and facilities along existing and proposed bike routes.  These offer a common bike parking solution that is unique and identifiable with the City of Laurel.  In addition, they also complement and blend-in with our existing public infrastructure - such as the decorative lamp posts, trash can and benches found on Main Street and throughout the City.


City of Laurel Bike Hitch



CDBG funding for Bowie Road pedestrian improvements

The City of Laurel has applied for CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funding to make road improvements along Bowie Road from MD 197 to Lafayette Ave.  The grant, if received, would be used to install sidewalk along this entire segment.  Because this portion of Bowie Road contains mostly garden-style apartments and offers quick access to bus stop and shopping along Route 1, it has a lot of pedestrians.  Currently, sidewalk is sporadic on the south side of the road, and virtually non-existent on the north side.  The grant will allow for one continuous sidewalk to be constructed along the north side of the Bowie road - from MD 197 to Lafayette Ave, and on the south side, would connect both apartment complex driveway entrances to the existing sidewalk by the Fire and Rescue squad.  Future grant requests (project phases) will address the remaining portion of Bowie Road - from Lafayette to US 1 Southbound.

Intersection improvements completed at Cypress & Laurel Lakes Ave

The City just completed some minor safety improvements at the intersection of Cypress Street and Laurel Lakes Ave.  These improvements include new crosswalks on the north, south, and west legs of the intersection; a relocated pedestrian ramp on the southeast corner; and new sidewalk leading to the Safeway grocery store.

MD 197 and Bowie Road

The City of Laurel has made a request to the State Highway Administration for a pedestrian signal for crossing MD 197 at Bowie Road/Clubhouse Blvd. There is already a traffic signal at this intersection, and SHA has made many pedestrian improvements to the area – particularly on the west side.  The request is currently in the 90-day review period. This blog will be updated when the review status changes.

Street Paving

This week, the City is re-paving Phair Place, 10th Street (from MD198 to West St), and the intersection of Greenview Drive and Clubhouse Blvd. The milling and resurfacing is expected to be complete this week, weather permitting. Any crosswalks and lane markings will be re-striped by DPW after the streets are resurfaced.

Sharrows

If you're wondering what those strange markings along 4th street are,

they are called Sharrows - shared arrow markings. 

They are used to indicate to drivers that this is a

preferred bike route and to emphasize that the street is to be shared with bicyclists.  Where the markings are right in the middle of the travel lane, they are combined with this sign,

 

"Bike May Use Full Lane" to emphasize that bikes are allowed to use the entire lane, the same as a vehicle. This combination is used on preferred bike routes where the travel lane isn't wide enough for bikes to ride side by side with vehicles.

The first photo above shows 4th Street from Montgomery toward Main Street.  On-street parking is allowed on the left side of the street only.  The rest of the street isn't wide enough to incorporate a 5' wide bike lane and still have enough room for a vehicle to travel safely.  Instead, sharrows were used to indicate a safe bicycle riding location that also allows for a large enough gap between them and passing vehicles.

On other parts of 4th street, namely between Gorman and Talbot, sharrows are placed 11' from the right curb. This location guides bicyclists to an area that prevents them from getting hit by opening doors from cars parked on-street along the right side of the street, yet still allows for a comfortable separation distance for vehicles to pass on the left. See photo below.

Sharrow on 4th Street between Gorman Ave and Talbot Ave

New Bike Lanes

The City of Laurel is in the initial phase of implementing its Bikeway Masterplan.  As part of this phase, the City has installed their inaugural on-street bike lanes.  The lanes shown below are on 4th Street from Talbott to Montgomery Street.  This segment is one-way only with on-street parking on both sides.  The bike lane has been installed on the left side of the street to reduce the likelihood of bicyclists getting "doored."  The next set of on-street bike lanes to be installed will be along 4th Street from Gude Park to Greenhill Drive.

Turning roads into walking paths - literally

A short - but important - hiker/biker path was recently completed by the City in order to connect the intersection of the 4th Street and Cherry Lane with the popular walking paths around Gude Lake. The novel thing about this connecting path is that it was built from other City roads.

A recent repaving job on Sandy Spring Road provided the millings (ground-up asphalt) that comprised the foundation of the path. And the fill dirt that was used to provide a smooth grade on the sides of the path came from a new roadway currently being cut in another portion of the City.

From nothing, to a base-foundation, to a graded and top-coated path

The result is a path that required over 100 CY of base-course asphalt, fill dirt and surface-course asphalt - where over 90% of the materials used were recycled from other City roads.

Another view of the new connecting path

Bike Plan to begin roll-out

Tomorrow, the City of Laurel will begin implementing the first phase of its City-wide bike master plan. This initial phase is a north-south route that connects several neighborhoods, ending at Riverfront Park to the North and Gude Lake to the South.  The route runs along low-volume 4th/5th Streets and is a mix of on-street bike lanes and shared-route markings/signage, with a short hiker/biker trail connecting the intersection of 4th  and Cherry with the trails around Gude Lake.  In total, the City will be using signage and street markings to designate 3 miles of roads as preferred bike routes, with 1 mile of that stretch to include on-street bike lanes.*  Sharrows and signage will be used on the remaining two miles to emphasize the shared nature of the road. Work north of Greenhill Drive will begin on Friday, with the exception of any sharrows that need to be installed on roads that WSSC is in the process of patching/re-surfacing.  The on-street bike lanes on 4th Street from Cherry to Greenhill will be installed as part of a 4th Street CIP expected to start later this month.

A few of the bike guide signs to be installed

*To put this into context, the City maintains about 56 miles of local roadways and about 100 miles of sidewalk in a 4.5 square-mile municipality.

How to put in new sidewalk in a tough spot, without breaking the bank

Most of Van Dusen Road has drainage swales on both sides of the road.  These "ditches" catch rainwater runoff from the road and filter it into the earth and direct it to larger stormwater management systems.  These ditches work fine for rural roads. The problem is that Van Dusen Road has lots of development on it and lots of pedestrians - it is not rural - and it needs sidewalk.  However, one can't simply plop down sidewalk above the road-grade without redirecting the flow of water to someplace where it shouldn't be.  Retrofitting ditches with concrete piping and stormwater catch drains/basins to alleviate this becomes extraordinarily expensive. The Laurel City Department of Public Works came up with a nifty solution to install sidewalk along Van Dusen Road that utilizes the existing drainage ditches, but also builds above-grade sidewalk. The initial segment of new sidewalk to take advantage of this solution is this segment of Van Dusen Road that leads from the intersection of Cherry Lane to the entrance of the Laurel Oaks development.  As shown in the picture below, it is well traveled and in need of sidewalk, as Van Dusen also has its fair share of speeders.

The new solution involves utilizing a concrete flume, extending from a new gutter, that runs underneath the sidewalk panels, at predetermined intervals. 

The flume allows water that is caught by the gutter to exit out into the ditch, as before, yet still allows for uninterrupted sidewalk. The sidewalk panel over the flume is reinforced with 1/2" rebar, because of concrete's weak tensile strength.  This covered-flume solution has been installed along Van Dusen between Cherry Lane and Laurel Oaks for the past 2 months and appears to be working as intended.  Provided it continues to hold up well, this system allows for continuous concrete sidewalk to be installed along the remainder of Van Dusen without the prohibitive costs of brand new stormwater management systems.

New Traffic Calming Island at Montrose & 10th

Speed profile data collected on Montrose Ave, just east of 10th Street, showed a high number of speeders and an intolerably high number of excessive speeders (35+ mph in a 25 mph zone). See data below:

To mediate this, the City is installing a center-island median (26' long by 10' wide) in the intersection. This median will serve two purposes:  1) focus attention of motorists toward the intersection where a new crosswalk is being installed; and 2) force speeders to slow down to a residential speed.

The new island will look something like this and will be bisected by a ladder-style crosswalk:

Status update:  Complete.

New Pedestrian Signal Crossing at Van Dusen & Cherry Lane

The City of Laurel is installing a new pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Van Dusen Road and Cherry Lane. 

 

The new crossing entails:

1. Opening up the walkway width of the 'porkchop" island on the northeast corner (this will allow for extension of the Van Dusen Road Bike sidepath in a future phase);
2. Tightening the turning radius on the south east corner and adding an extra-wide ADA compliant ramp;
3. Installing an 8' wide ladder-style crosswalk across Cherry Lane on the east side of the intersection;
4. Adding a pedestrian crossing signal phase and countdown timer.

 There is currently no crosswalk or pedestrian phase for residents to cross Cherry Lane at this intersection.  The new crossing desscribed above will fix this, providing students from the Wellington Developments a safer crossing to Laurel High School without having to cross at an unprotected location in front of the school, as is often the case.  It will also allow all the developments near this intersection - Laurel Oaks, Laurelton Forest, Crescents, etc. - quick and safe pedestrian access to surrounding neighborhoods.

 

Status Update:  Items 1), 2) and 3) are complete.  Item 4  is scheduled for mid-October.

FY2011 Capital Improvement Projects Beginning

The City of Laurel has begun their FY 2011 "Street Improvements" CIP.  These projects currently underway include:

• Intersection of Greenview Dr and Clubhouse Blvd
• New ADA compliant ramps;
• Resurface/re-stripe intersection;
• Resurface eastbound Clubhouse blvd. approach
• Phair Place
• Replace broken or separated sidewalk and curb-and-gutter;
• New ped crossing on north side of intersection of Phair and 10th;
• Resurface Phair Place
• 10th Street, from MD 198 to West Street
• Replace 3' sidewalk on east side of street;
• Replace broken or separated sidewalk and curb-and-gutter;
• New sidewalk and curb-and-gutter to replace existing drainage swale on west side between Phair Place and West Street;
• Resurface 10th Street

Status:  Complete

Main Street in the Washington Post

Flipping thru the Washington Post's weekly Magazine yesterday and saw a picture of a popular street in Laurel, deluged with snow from this past year's storm.  I wonder which one our intrepid residents braved the elements to take the photo.

Pending Pedestrian Safety Improvements

The City of Laurel is currently making pedestrian safety improvements to two intersections: 1)  Park Ave and 9th Streets; and 2) Cypress St and Laurel Lakes.

The Improvements at 9th and Park include:

a. Extending the sidewalk on the west side 9th Street until it reach a location across from the playground entrance on the east side 9th street.

b. Installing a high-visibility crosswalk across 9th street.

c. Installing pedestrian crossing signs to warn motorists.

d. Updating sidewalk ramps for ADA compliance.

Park Ave and 9th Street

The Improvements at Cypress St and Laurel Lakes Ave include:

a.  Install sidewalk connecting Cypress Street to the Safeway grocery store and the rest of the shopping center.

b.  Relocate southeast sidewalk ramp in front of stop bar so that it is oriented with the receiving ramp on the southwest corner.

Cypress St and Laurel Lakes Ave

Crosswalk Facelift on Main Street

The City of Laurel is field-testing a crosswalk enhancement procedure to make a busy unsignalized crosswalk on Main Street at 5th Street more visible to drivers. The procedure will replicate the decorative crosswalks recently applied to  Montgomery Street. 

Here are some photos mid-application.

And here is a before-and-after comparison of the visibilty of the crosswalk from a driver's perspective.