Planning Staff Presents Pedestrian Existing Conditions Report to Board

Planning staff presented the first comprehensive study of pedestrians’ experiences in the county to the Planning Board at its March 31 meeting.

The Pedestrian Master Plan Existing Conditions Report included a survey that was sent to 60,000 residents to assess pedestrian activity and perceptions in both the county as a whole and in various types of land use, according to a press release.

The study also looked at how students get to and then leave the county’s public schools, surveying 70,000 students.

Some of the highlights of the study, according to the release, include:

  • 16% of students arrive and 18% of students depart from elementary schools on foot. The percentage in less in middle school (11%/16%) and high school (8%/12%). 
  • County residents make 7.5% of their weekly trips on foot or using a mobility device, while only 2.2% of commuting trips are on foot. 
  • A disproportionate share of severe and fatal pedestrian crashes occurs on relatively few roads, largely in urban areas. 55% of severe and fatal pedestrian crashes countywide occur on the 6% of roads in urban areas that are controlled major highways, major highways, arterials, and business streets. 
  • Nearly half of sidewalks along major highways and 20% of sidewalks on arterial streets lack a buffer between the sidewalk and the street.
  • 55% of severe and fatal pedestrian crashes countywide occur on the 6% of roads in urban areas that are controlled major highways, major highways, arterials, and business streets.

In addition, county residents with a disability are less satisfied with the pedestrian environment than residents without a reported disability (43% vs. 53%), especially along the county’s transit corridors (33% vs. 52%) and in the exurban/rural parts of the county (36% vs. 47%). In urban areas, pedestrians with and without disabilities have a similar level of satisfaction (59% vs. 60%).

The master plan is intended to identify best practices and make recommendations that “will support making Montgomery County universally accessible to pedestrians of all ages and abilities with particular attention paid to those pedestrians using mobility devices like wheelchairs or canes.”

Planning Department graphic

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