Rockville is rolling — and walking, biking and driving — into the new year with the completion of a major project in Rockville Town Center and new ways to track trips by bike and by foot.
A new bus boarding platform, installed Nov. 25, is the final piece of the Beall Avenue Complete Streets and Asphalt Art project. The first-of-its-kind project for the city makes Rockville Town Center safer and more attractive for residents, visitors and businesses.
It includes traffic-calming features that shorten pedestrian-crossing distances and provides other safety improvements along a new alignment of Beall Avenue between MD 355/Hungerford Drive and North Washington Street.
The project created one travel lane in each direction, buffered bicycle lanes and on-street parking and loading spaces, all adorned with new “asphalt art” in the form of a street mural that was dedicated Nov. 10.
The city also recently completed the installation of permanent counters to help measure pedestrian and bicycle use on trails throughout Rockville. Five pedestrian and bicycle counters were installed:
- Along the Carl Henn Millennium Trail, between Gaither Road and Piccard Drive.
- Along the Stoneridge shared-use path near Wootton Parkway.
- At the southern entrance of the Sister City Friendship Bridge over Interstate 270 near MD 28/West Montgomery Avenue.
- Along the Twinbrook Connector Trail near Ardennes Avenue.
- Along the Baltimore Road shared-use path near Gladstone Drive.
A bicycle-only counter was installed on northbound North Washington Street near Wood Lane. The devices continuously count pedestrians and bicycles.
The projects are part of the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan to eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries. An update on the city’s Vision Zero progress is scheduled for the Mayor and Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 3 Learn more at www.rockvillemd.gov/visionzero.