The Montgomery County Council passed the Safe Streets Act Tuesday, a bill that will make infrastructure and policy changes to the county’s streets.
The legislation will eliminate right turn on red specific intersections designated by the county’s Department of Transportation, as well as add new traffic control devices to downtown intersections and town center areas.
Broader changes will include requiring the County Executive’s office to create an automated traffic enforcement plan to be implemented by the county, and to require MCDOT to conduct infrastructure reviews after collisions, specifically for those involving students traveling to and from school.
At a press briefing on Monday, lead sponsor Council President Evan Glass said he expects the right turn on red changes to be made “as soon as the signs are made” and that traffic controls should be added quickly as well.
“This [legislation] is the most tangible step towards enacting more Vision Zero policies that we have ever done since the adoption of Vision Zero in 2016,” Glass said.
Montgomery County is one of the first county governments in the United States to initiate a Vision Zero plan, with the goal of eliminating all traffic-related deaths by 2030. The legislation that passed on Tuesday is intended to further the county’s Vision Zero goals.
So far in 2023, 11 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed and 404 have been seriously injured in collisions, according to county data. In all of 2022, 19 pedestrians and bicyclists were killed and 541 were seriously injured.
Glass said these changes are important, and the county will put pressure on the state to make changes on state roads.
While the bill passed unanimously, the councilmembers spent a couple of hours debating specifics of the bills, especially as it pertained to requiring infrastructure reviews in collisions involving children traveling to and from school, and how far the scope of those should go.
“One of the most dangerous things that our children do every day unfortunately is just going to school, and walking on our roadways, risking their lives at times at incredibly dangerous intersections,” Council Vice President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) said. “We have too many vigils, too many ghost bike and ghost shoe memorials that we go to because we have failed to make our roads safe enough for people to actually get to where they’re going.”
Friedson proposed an amendment that would require additional investigation into collisions at bus stops, citing the deaths of two children in his district in 2019 and 2022 and the life-altering injuries of another child in his district in 2019 at bus stops.
Chris Conklin, director of the county’s Department of Transportation, said it could be difficult to identify bus stops, as they often change and are “ephemeral.”
Some councilmembers urged that Montgomery County Public Schools have greater collaboration with the county government on the issue and submit full reports and details about these bus stops, including developing a Memorandum of Understanding regarding transportation issues.
“An analysis by MCPS is only as good as MCPS implementing it,” Glass said. “You all need to work together.”
Councilmember Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) said she doesn’t have faith in MCPS’ ability to handle transportation issues based on her experience on the Planning Board, and that her belief is they should be handled solely by the county government. She said she feels the school system doesn’t do enough to address collisions near schools and at bus stops.
“[MCPS] should only be focused on the academics that are said and let us to deal with transportation,” Fani-Gonzalez said. “I have no faith in you.”
The council will review the proposed Pedestrian Master Plan next week at its Tuesday meeting.