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.
The project will include the development of conceptual and final design plans, followed by construction.
Grove Street project webpage
The Grove Street project will be a pilot project. Treatments will use temporary materials that can be modified or removed. Before implementation, a study of Grove and adjacent streets will be conducted to determine baseline conditions. Meetings were held on January 21 and July 15, 2020 to present ideas and gather feedback. A third community meeting was held on September 29, 2020 to present plans for the first stage of the pilot.
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. We expect to hold a community meeting to gather feedback about this project and the conversion of Grove Street’s pilot treatments into permanent treatments in Spring 2023.
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 65% in the summer of 2022 and MCDOT is currently working on the 90% design. We expect to complete 90% design in early 2023 and will hold a community meeting at that time. 100% design is expected in Spring 2023. Construction is expected to begin no earlier than Fall 2023 and will stretch into 2024.
A 65% design update video and revised drawings has been posted in the Project Documents tab as of November 2022.
The Fenton Street / MD 410 Intersection Project will be constructed as a part of the Fenton Street Cycletrack Project.
The Fenton Street Cycletrack Project is in final design, and we expect the 90% design process to be complete in early 2023. Construction is expected to start in Fall 2023 and to continue into 2024.
The Grove Street Neighborhood Greenway Pilot Project has completed Stage 1. Stage 2 has been cancelled. Design work to make the Stage 1 treatments permanent will start in Spring 2023 along with an expansion of neighborhood greenway treatments to portions of Cedar Street, Bonifant Street, Houston Street, and Woodbury Drive. A construction timeline has not yet been identified.
Matt Johnson, A.I.C.P. Bikeways Coordinator Division of Transportation Engineering 100 Edison Park Dr., 4th Floor Gaithersburg, MD 20878 E-mail: Matt.Johnson@montgomerycountymd.gov Phone: 240-777-7237