The Fenton Village Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects are three related projects in the Fenton Village and downtown Silver Spring areas. They are in various stages of planning and design.
The projects are:
The intersection of Fenton Street and MD 410 was built with high-speed right turn ramps on the northern half of the intersection. These elements add additional, impervious surface and do not represent a safe design for pedestrians and cyclists. MCDOT is undertaking a redesign of this intersection to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and to reduce the amount of impervious surface.
While this project was initially intended to be constructed before the rest of the Fenton Street Cycletrack project, permitting delays have made it better to construct it at the same time as the Fenton Street Cycletrack project. See updates in the Fenton Street Cycletrack section below.
East Silver Spring Neighborhood Greenway project webpage
The East Silver Spring Neighborhood Greenway project grew out of the Grove Street Neighborhood Greenway Pilot. The project is currently in design and will result in traffic calming and pedestrian and bicyclist safety improvements along Woodbury Drive, Silgo Avenue, Grove Street, Bonifant Street, Cedar Street, and Houston Street. More detailed information is available on the East Silver Spring Neighborhood Greenway project webpage.
At present, the temporary Grove Street Pilot treatments are still in place along Grove Street. Most of those will be converted to permanent treatments as part of the East Silver Spring Neighborhood Greenway project. Additionally, the walking lane will be converted to a sidewalk.
The East Silver Spring Neighborhood Greenway project will also add similar treatments to other streets in the area to create a linear neighborhood greenway stretching from the intersection of Fenton Street and Philadelphia Avenue to Cedar Street and Wayne Avenue. A sidewalk will also be added to Houston Street.
A neighborhood greenway is a street where the mobility of pedestrians and cyclists is made a priority and the speed of drivers is reduced through treatments. Through vehicle trips on these streets are discouraged to reduce the number of vehicles.
We held a community meeting to discuss proposed treatments in November 2023. We expect to go before the Montgomery County Planning Board in late Summer 2024. At this time construction is unlikely to occur any earlier than late Spring 2025, and construction may happen on different elements at different times, not as one project. Stay tuned for more information.
The Fenton Street Cycletrack project will provide a two-way cycletrack on the west side of Fenton Street from Burlington Avenue (MD 410) to Cameron Street. A shared-use path on the west side of Fenton Street will connect Burlington Avenue to the Metropolitan Branch Trail at King Street. This project will include bicyclist and pedestrian safety elements along the length of the corridor, including a raised curb between the bikeway and the roadway, protected intersection corner islands, bicycle signals and left turn phase protection, and pedestrian and accessibility upgrades.
The design reached 95% in Fall 2023 and MCDOT is currently working to finalize the design and the relocation of utilities. As of Spring 2024, the acquisition of needed right-of-way and temporary construction easements is underway. Final permitting is also underway. We expect both of these processes to be completed in Fall 2024. Construction is expected to begin in early 2025 and is likely to last 18 to 24 months.
The Fenton Street / MD 410 Intersection Project will be constructed as a part of the Fenton Street Cycletrack Project.
The Fenton Street Cycletrack is in final design and we expect all permits and right-of-way acquisition to be complete by Fall 2024. Construction is expected to start in early 2025 and last 18 to 24 months.
The East Silver Spring Neighborhood Greenway has completed 30% design and a hearing before the Montgomery County Planning Board in late summer 2024. Construction is unlikely to start until late spring 2025 and may occur in segments, rather than all at once.
Matt Johnson, A.I.C.P. Bikeways Coordinator Division of Transportation Engineering 100 Edison Park Dr., 4th Floor Gaithersburg, MD 20878 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 240-777-7237