RE: MD 214/Central Ave. 12/10/24 safety workshop comments

TO: Mulowa K. Kajoba, Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) Project Manager, mkajoba@mdot.maryland.gov

FROM: Cheryl Cort, Policy Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth

DATE: December 16, 2024

Dear Project Manager Kajoba: 

Thank you for holding a public input workshop regarding MD 214/Central Avenue. We have been working with community members in this corridor for several years. We are excited to see important safety measures be contemplated by SHA. We are hopeful that they can be implemented as soon as possible, taking advantage of quick build low cost solutions.

Regarding the MD 214 12/10/24 display boards “Improvement Opportunities,” we wish to add some comments to this excellent list. Overall, we hope to see retrofits that create a 30 MPH design speed/operating speed roadway, which is the posted speed limit in portions of the corridor. A design speed of 30 MPH better reflects the Metro station local center designation by the County’s General Plan, and better utilizes the state’s investment in the Metrorail system. 

• Construct missing sidewalk – Yes, and Old Central Av. at Zelma should be closed.
• Tighten curb radii – All intersections should be assessed for tighter turns (15′ turning radius standard or 25’ effective radii for truck/bus routes), and driveways can be narrowed or closed across public ROW too. These and other measures should narrow crossing distances and slow vehicle speeds to benefit pedestrians.
• Remove channelized turn lanes or improve sight distance for pedestrians and drivers – Yes, closing off slip lanes would be a big help for pedestrians, and slow vehicle operating speeds.
• Add new signals or pedestrian hybrid beacons – Yes — Cabin Branch Rd should be a top priority for a new signal, but should be done with travelway narrowing and other measures to slow operating speeds to ensure compliance with the signal and posted speed limit of 30 MPH (near Cabin Branch Road). 
• Implement road diet to add buffered bike lanes – Yes, the traffic volume of 30,000 vehicles/day does not justify a six lane roadway, thus the oversized road encourages drivers to greatly exceed the posted speed limit of 30 MPH. This urban area — by 2 Metro stations, a high school, local businesses should have an urban roadway designed to encourage slower, safe operating speeds and safe, easy crossings for people walking, biking and riding transit. A road diet configuring the roadway for four rather than six lanes is sufficient to address vehicular traffic. 

Further, travel lane widths can be narrowed consistent with PG DPW&T’s Urban Street Design Standards of 10’ for general lanes and 11’ bus routes. 

We support a buffered bike lane as a good use of the excess space, however these lanes should be vertically separated to ensure both safety for cyclists and visually narrowing of the roadway to reduce operating speeds to safe levels. The new AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities can help address the most appropriate design to match this high-volume location. Interim, less expensive protected bike lane elements that can be deployed quickly should be done as soon as possible to improve roadway safety, followed by more expensive permanent measures. 

Better walking conditions created by buffered bike lane: We note that a buffered bike lane will also improve the safety and comfort for people walking along the road. In our walk audit of Central Avenue, Central High School students identified the discomfort of walking on a sidewalk next to high speed traffic as a problem, and also occasional vegetation or standing water as a partial obstruction of sidewalks and crossings, and narrowness of some sidewalk segments. 

• Provide bus stop connectivity – Yes, this is a problem in several places along the corridor but is acute for students who ride the bus to and from Central High School. SHA should make a special effort to solve for safe access for these students, and other bus stop users. 
• Provide bus stop amenities [my addition] — add a bench and shelter to the Cabin Branch Rd stops. If SHA does not normally do this, it should work with agencies like MTA to install facilities to give students and other bus riders a more comfortable trip. 
• Replace and upgrade signs – yes, and look at ways to consolidate, narrow and close driveways unnecessarily intruding on the public sidewalk and roadway creating extra or elongated conflict points. 
• Add lighting – yes.

Making Capitol Heights more bike friendly: Establishing protected bike lanes to Central Ave. will greatly enhance bike connectivity in the corridor. The Central Ave. Connector Trail will also do this, but is not in conflict with bike lanes on Central Ave. Repurposing travel lanes to bike lanes is a good way to improve safety for drivers, bikers & pedestrians. 

Quick build, low cost, tactical measures: Many interventions can be done quickly at low cost but deliver big benefits to safety, and can even lower maintenance costs over time. Given the budget constraints faced by Maryland, deploying low cost tactical measures within months or the next year will have major benefits to safety and support transit-oriented development. As more funding is available, more permanent retrofits can be implemented. Other jurisdictions often use this approach – quick build temporary safety measures right away, followed by more expensive permanent elements later.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Please keep us informed as this important project moves forward.