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.