The Grove Street Neighborhood Greenway Pilot was a project to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety on Grove Street on the edge of downtown Silver Spring by trying out treatments using interim materials. The project stretched along Grove Street from Sligo Avenue in the south to Bonifant Street in the north. The pilot treatments are still in place as of Spring 2023, but the project has now been expanded and is called the East Silver Spring Neighborhood Greenway. During the Summer of 2023, MCDOT will be working with the community to identify permanent treatments for the Grove Street corridor and the East Silver Spring Neighborhood Greenway.
A Neighborhood Greenway is a street where the safe movement of bicyclists and pedestrians is prioritized, and the fast, through movement of vehicles is minimized. Tools can include speed treatments such as speed humps and diversionary treatments. Grove Street is identified as a future neighborhood greenway in the County’s adopted Bicycle Master Plan. This project is a pilot project, meaning that treatments will use temporary materials that can be modified or removed.
The first stage of the pilot was implemented in summer 2021. The first stage included the installation of a walking lane, painted bump-outs on the east-west streets, high visibility crosswalks, and a mini-roundabout at Grove Street & Silver Spring Avenue. The installation of rubber speed humps was delayed due to supply-chain issues and occurred in November 2021. A community meeting to review the results of the stage 1 part of the pilot and discuss next steps was held in May 2022.
At the May 2022 meeting and in the associated survey, the community expressed support for most of the Stage 1 treatments, but there was not sufficient support for the Stage 2 treatments, which would have added diversionary treatments to Grove Street.
As a result, MCDOT has decided to cancel the Stage 2 portion of the pilot. Instead, we will focus on making many of the Stage 1 treatments, including the walking lane, permanent.
Additionally, the County’s FY23-FY28 Capital Budget included funding for the East Silver Spring Neighborhood Greenway, which includes the length of Grove Street. As a result, MCDOT will begin a design project to look at potential neighborhood greenway treatments to slow cars and reduce the amount of traffic on Cedar Street between Wayne Avenue and Bonifant Street, Bonifant Street between Cedar Street and Grove Street, Houston Street between Cedar Street and Thayer Avenue, and Woodbury Drive between Sligo Avenue and Philadelphia Avenue. The project will also look at a bicyclist and pedestrian connection along Sligo Avenue between Grove Street and Woodbury Drive and a safe, low-stress crossing of Sligo Avenue in that stretch.
Design work has not yet started. A community meeting was held on May 31, 2023 to gather feedback about this project and the conversion of Grove Street’s pilot treatments into permanent treatments.
A community meeting is being held on November 28, 2023 to present the proposed design for the East Silver Spring Neighborhood Greenway. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2024.
Project Manager: Matt Johnson , AICP Division of Transportation Engineering 100 Edison Park, 4th Floor Gaithersburg, MD 20878 240-777-7237 Matt.Johnson@MontgomeryCountyMD.gov
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What is a neighborhood greenway?
A Neighborhood Greenway is a street where the safe movement of bicyclists and pedestrians is prioritized, and the fast, through movement of vehicles is minimized. This is achieved by using different treatments to slow down drivers or discourage them from using the street. Tools can include speed treatments such as speed humps and diversionary treatments. The treatments used on Grove Street will be determined following the July 15 meeting. We will bring some ideas to the table to get your feedback on the correct approach.
What is a pilot project?
This project is a pilot project, meaning that treatments will use temporary materials that can be modified or removed based on how they’re working and community feedback. While neighborhood greenways are common in other parts of the United States and Canada, they are new to the Washington, D.C. region. This pilot project will allow MCDOT to test out treatments without any permanent changes to the roadway should the treatments not work as expected. We are also collecting data on how effective the treatments are. “Before” data was collected in February 2020, and data will be collected again after Stage 1 (speed treatments) and again after Stage 2 (speed treatments + diversionary treatments).
What are “speed treatments”?
Speed treatments are traffic calming tools added to the street that encourage motorists to drive more slowly. They can include things like “chokers” that make the road narrower, “chicanes” that introduce a weave to the roadway, and “mini-roundabouts” that require drivers to move through intersections more slowly. These are just a few examples:
What is “access management?”
Access management refers to treatments installed to reduce drivers’ ability to move through the network. Treatments can include making a street one-way at the end of a block, installing a median so that drivers can only turn right at an intersection, or full closures for portions of the street. Other tools are available. This is only a sample of treatments. What’s a “walking lane”?
We’ve heard from many residents that a sidewalk is desired. Unfortunately, a permanent concrete sidewalk behind the curb is beyond the scope of this project. As an alternative, MCDOT is considering the addition of a “walking lane” to Grove Street. The Walking Lane would be a space in the roadway that is designated for walking and is separated from vehicles with a raised barrier, most likely comprised of parking stops, since this is a temporary treatment. Other cities, including Seattle, Washington and Washington, D.C. have used this treatment in areas where a permanent sidewalk is impractical or cannot be installed quickly enough to meet the need.
For more information on potential treatments, please review the Neighborhood Greenway Treatments Primer document.