Ongoing improvements to West Edmonston Drive seek to improve pedestrian safety and address community concerns about speeding along the road.
In May and June, the city’s Department of Public Works completed six new crosswalks along West Edmonston (two each at Carter Road and Ritchie Parkway and one each at Curtis and Hardy places), improving safety along the route for students walking to Bayard Rustin Elementary School, which opened in 2018. The city also completed two new crosswalks at Harrington Road and one new crosswalk at Maxim Lane.
The improvements follow a meeting of residents and city staff in April and a study of traffic volume and speed in March. The crosswalks at Harrington Road and Maxim Lane were in response to residents’ requests during the meeting.
Other requests are being addressed by improvements that began in September. They include:
- White edge lines along West Edmonston to separate parking lanes from travel lanes.
- A new 25 mph speed limit sign along westbound West Edmonston near Carter Road and the relocation of an existing eastbound sign to a location closer to Carter.
- Intersection improvements and three new crosswalks and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramps at the intersection of West Edmonston and Cabin John Parkway.
Staff will assess the impact of these improvements a few months after installation.
Public works staff and city police recently discussed residents’ request for speed cameras along West Edmonston. Police have conducted speed enforcement using mobile cameras, and while the number of recorded citations has been very low, city police committed to deploying the speed vans again periodically. Public works staff will contact Ride On and Montgomery County Public Schools to voice residents’ concerns about Ride On and school buses speeding along West Edmonston Drive near Carter Road. Staff did not recommend new stop signs on West Edmonston due to low traffic on Carter.
For more information, email [email protected].