Community Groups Dedicate New Pedestrian Signal at Veirs Mill Road and Claridge Road

Over the past several months, the Department of Transportation (MCDOT) and police Department (MCD), in coordination with the Maryland Highway Safety Office (MHSO), have been working with several members of the Wheaton community who are interested in participating in pedestrian safety community outreach efforts.

The community members represent neighborhood civic associations (Connecticut Avenue Estates, Montclair Manor, Rock Creek Palisades), as well as representatives from the Hispanic/Latino community. The three neighborhood civic associations organized a public/press event on July 20 to commemorate activation of the new traffic signal at Veirs Mill Road and Claridge Road. In attendance were County Councilmembers Ervin, Navarro, and Floreen; State delegates Carr and Gutierrez; as well as County Officials, Father Salah from St. Catherine Labouré Church, and members of the community. Click here to see news coverage of the event. 

The community members then took the opportunity to distribute pedestrian safety information to St. Catherine Labouré parishioners the weekend immediately following the activation of the new signal. The outreach effort was initiated by the community groups, and is an indication of the potential for this group to successfully reach thousands of members of the walking and driving public in an effort to educate them about keeping pedestrians safe. 
 

Springtime Sees Many Activities that Make Montgomery County Safer for Pedestrians

See these press releases:

• Four Corners HIA pedestrian safety campaign engages Blair HS Students.
• Jones Bridge Road traffic calming project completed
• MCDOT Receives $1 Million Grant from MDOT for Downcounty Bikeshare Program
• Public Meeting May 9: Pedestrian safety in the vicinty of the intersection of Randolph and Viers Mill roads
• Street Smart Launches Spring Pedestrian Safety Campaign

Pedestrian Safety Campaign Targets Blair High School Students: Teens Compete in "Hey You, I'm Looking at You!" Best Eyes and Texting Contests

                      

As part of Montgomery County’s efforts to improve pedestrian safety in areas with the highest densities of collisions, the County recently launched a campaign aimed at high school students in the Four Corners area of Silver Spring. An event was held at the school with a professional photographer taking pictures of competing teens’ eyes. The eyes of two winners, Hillary Yeboah and John Parsley, were featured on posters that urge pedestrians to establish eye contact with drivers and look both ways before crossing the street with the theme “Hey You, I’m Looking at You!”

 

 

 

  A group of Montgomery Blair high school students was involved in developing the public education campaign aimed at teens. Collision data from the Four Corners area shows that those under 20 years of age and those over 50 have been involved in all collisions, mostly during daylight hours.

 

 

Also, during the month of May, Montgomery Blair students had the opportunity to answer text message questions about pedestrian safety to win gift cards and other prizes, while learning to be safe pedestrians. Students could access the correct responses to the questions by visiting the website http://www.blairwalkproject.com/. Participating students received silicone wristbands – called SWAG Bracelets - that feature pedestrian safety messages that are either SWAG or FAIL. While to “Make Eye Contact,” “Use Crosswalks,” and “Look Both Ways,” are clearly SWAG behaviors, to “Text + Walk,” or “Get Hit by a Bus,” are clearly FAILS! SWAG and FAIL are slang for good and bad, respectively. In addition, SWAG was used as the campaign acronym, and stands for:

See them see you
Wait for the walk
Always use crosswalks
Go reflective



The bracelets serve as reminders of safe pedestrian behaviors to the teen wearers, as well as other students.

The winner of the pedestrian safety text messaging contest, freshman Cullen Morris, was presented the grand prize at a ceremony on June 7.

MCDOT Director Art Holmes and Montgomery Blair High School Principal Renay Johnson and Assistant Principal Andrew Coleman presented Morris with a new iPad. Morris was chosen in a random drawing out of more than 1,300 correct student entries to win the grand prize. In addition, 12 students received gift certificates to Chipotle during the month of May for correctly answering pedestrian-safety related questions. Pedestrian safety efforts will continue at Blair High School next year.

Click here to see the Transportation Update on the Blair Walk Project. 

                         

CountyStat Reviews Pedestrian Safety Initiative

The CountyStat program conducted its ninth review of progress on the County Executive’s Pedestrian Safety Initiative on Monday, May 14, 2012. The results indicate the decline in county-wide pedestrian collisions and fatalities continued in 2011. Not only have there been fewer pedestrian collisions but also a decline in the severity of injuries resulting from collisions.

• 8% County-wide Reduction in Pedestrian Collisions in 2011
• Reduction in Severity of Pedestrian Collisions
• Decline in Pedestrian Fatalities for Third Year
• 72% Decline of Collisions for Safe Routes to School
• 45% Decline of Collisions in High Incidence Areas
• 35% Decline of Collisions Where Traffic Calming Employed

Montgomery County is committed to achieving data-driven results to reduce the frequency and severity of pedestrian collisions. These periodic reviews have become a critical and valuable part of implementing the County Executive’s Pedestrian Safety Initiative. By reviewing data and information from the program, the County works to assure that effective strategies are being employed to improve pedestrian safety. Information evaluated in these reviews provides vital direction on how best to target activities that are reducing the number of pedestrian collisions in the County. A press release has been issued on the conclusions of this most recent CountyStat review.

Click here to view the presentation:

Previous CountyStat Review Presentations can be seen on the County’s CountyStat web site and are listed by dates of the review. Click on the dates to review the presentation:

• August 26, 2011
• October 12, 2010
• March 19, 2010
• June 16, 2009
• January 30, 2009
• October 21, 2008
• April 18, 2008
• February 29, 2008

Silver Spring Students Make Street Smarts Cool

GAZETTE.net - Maryland Community News - May 2, 2012

To keep their fellow classmates safe and street smart, a group of Montgomery Blair High School students are using words they say adults do not fully understand.

To get hit by a bus is a “fail,” they said, but to use a crosswalk, that is “swag.”

It’s a public safety campaign that neither the county — nor any adults — could have thought of, according to Jeff Dunckel, pedestrian safety coordinator of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation.

Read More

County Kicks Off Pedestrian Safety Campaign at Piney Branch



Safety Promotion Team member speaks with a pedestrian about walking safely



Montgomery County kicked off a pedestrian safety campaign on November 7 at the Piney Branch High Incidence Area (HIA). The portion of Piney Branch Road (MD 320) between Flower Avenue (MD 787) and University Boulevard (MD 193) in Silver Spring has historically been the area with the highest number of pedestrian collisions in the county. In October 2008, a Pedestrian Road Safety Audit (PRSA) of this area was conducted in order to identify the major issues for pedestrians and potential engineering treatments to address those issues. The Piney Branch Road PRSA team identified a number of pedestrian safety issues in the study area, the most significant of which was uncontrolled mid-block crossings, which were prevalent and identified as one of the primary contributing factors to pedestrian collisions. Since completion of the PRSA in 2008, MCDOT and MDSHA have been working jointly in the implementation of safety-related engineering improvements within the Piney Branch HIA.

Curb Markers on Piney Branch Road north of University Boulevard

The pedestrian safety campaign that began on November 7 ran through mid-December and included both education and enforcement efforts. The first step of the initiative was the installation of curb markers , which discourage pedestrians from crossing at unmarked locations and direct them to the crosswalks. These messages were reinforced by Safety Promotion Teams speaking with pedestrians on the street about safe pedestrian behavior (click here for information on how to be a safe pedestrian). The team members distributed pedestrian safety informational materials and visible neon green bags that included a safety message. Following the Safety Promotion Team effort, police began a targeted enforcement campaign in the area, focused on ticketing pedestrians and drivers who break the law.

                      

The Piney Branch pedestrian safety initiative was also featured on November 14 during the StreetSmart 2011 kick-off event. The event highlighted the coordinated efforts of the County and State in improving the pedestrian environment in the area. Click here to see the press release from the event. For more information about the StreetSmart regional pedestrian safety campaign, please click here.

Maryland State Highway Administration Approves Pedestrian Road Safety Audits for High Incidence Areas

The State has now studied and approved Pedestrian Road Safety Audits that identify needed safety improvements on roadways with the highest number of pedestrian collisons - called High Incidence Areas. Six reports have now been approved and may be viewed by clicking the links below:

• Piney Branch Road between Flower Avenue and the Montgomery County/Prince George's County Line (October 2008)
• Wisconsin Avenue between Leland Street and Montgomery Avenue (December 2008)
• Georgia Avenue between Sligo Avenue and Sprint Street (March 2009)
• Rockville Pike between Hubbard Drive and Halpine Drive (June 2009)
• Four Corners - Intersections of University Boulevard and Colesville Road (January 2010)
• Reedie Drive between Georgia Avenue and Veirs Mill Road (April 2010)