Rockville is continuing its push for safer city streets for all with renewed enforcement and education efforts.
The Rockville City Police Department began the new year by redeploying patrol officers to traffic patrol and focusing enforcement efforts on high-incident areas.
A map of bicycle and pedestrian crashes from 2017-2019, presented during the Dec. 16 Mayor and Council meeting, shows a concentration of incidents in Rockville Town Center, as well as near the Rockville and Twinbrook Metro stations. The map and staff report, as well as video of the Mayor and Council discussion can be found with the Dec. 16 meeting agenda listing at www.rockvillemd.gov/AgendaCenter.
Other ongoing education and enforcement efforts include:
- Patrols directed to address community concerns.
- An educational and enforcement effort in Town Center that has distributed over 500 educational brochures and issued citations and warnings.
- Increased emphasis on bringing criminal charges, when appropriate, in pedestrian-involved crashes.
- Greater statistical analysis of pedestrian-involved crashes.
- Education through community outreach events and by using city communication tools, including the city’s website, Rockville 11 (channel 11 on county cable and the city’s YouTube channel), “Rockville Reports” in print and online, printed materials and social media.
Meanwhile, the Rockville Bicycle Advisory Committee, Rockville Pedestrian Advocacy Committee and the city’s Traffic and Transportation Commission are working on pedestrian and bicycling safety strategies, including advocating for the city’s Vision Zero plan. The plan’s goal is to eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries by 2030 through improved road design, traffic law enforcement and education. A draft of the plan is expected to go before the Mayor and Council this spring.
Information about the commission and committees can be found under the “City Government” tab at www.rockvillemd.gov. The bottom of the website also includes a “Report a Concern” button for reporting non-emergency pedestrian or bicycling safety issues.
For more information about the city’s efforts, contact Alyssa Roff, the city’s pedestrian and bicycle coordinator, at [email protected] or 240-314-8527.