Where Do Montgomery County Motorists Idle Longest? Traffic Planners to Present Congestion Report, Recommend Future Traffic Fixes

SILVER SPRING, MD – On Thursday, the Montgomery County Planning Board will review the 2008 Highway Mobility Report, which provides a comprehensive view of traffic conditions in the county and recommends strategies to ease travel.

The annual update focuses on both current congestion and forecasts future traffic conditions, measuring traffic flow through intersections and corridors throughout the 496-square-mile county.

The report identifies the county’s 10 most congested intersections, such as the daily snarl at Great Seneca Highway (MD 119) at Muddy Branch Road, but also suggests traffic relief projects – such as intersection improvements, grade separations, and road widenings – to be considered by the Planning Board and County Council as they review the county’s bi-annual growth policy and recommend capital project priorities to the state. Among the relief projects, planners recommend bringing bus rapid transit to chronically congested corridors. Bus rapid transit provides a dedicated lane for express buses, allowing them to bypass traffic jams.

To identify the county’s most troublesome intersections, transportation planners performed Critical Lane Volume (CLV) analyses for 422 intersections. The CLV analysis relies on calculations involving traffic movement, traffic signal phasing and other factors. Intersections landing on the list, ranked from most to least congested, include:

 

1. Great Seneca Highway (MD 119) at Muddy Branch Road

2. Georgia Avenue (MD 97) at Randolph Road

3. Frederick Road (MD 355) at King Farm Boulevard

4. Connecticut Avenue (MD 185) at Jones Bridge Road

5. Rockville Pike (MD 355) at W. Cedar Lane

6. Shady Grove Road at Midcounty Highway

7. Norbeck Road (MD 28) at Bel Pre Road

8. Connecticut Avenue (MD 185) at East-West Highway (MD 410)

9. Norbeck Road (MD 28) at Avery Road

10. New Hampshire Avenue (MD 650) at Randolph Road

 
Planners report some good news for the top 10, however. Improvements at two intersections that made the 2006 most-congested list – Georgia Ave (MD 97)/Forest Glen Rd and

Frederick Rd (MD 355)/Ridge Rd (MD 27) have reduced congestion levels intersections by 26 percent and 47 percent, respectively. Analyzing which intersections improved helps justify the need for infrastructure improvements, planners say.

Two intersections on the 2008 list will likely be improved as part of the National Naval Medical Center base realignment project along Wisconsin Avenue, while two others along MD 28 are slated for less traffic when the Intercounty Connector opens.

The report also identifies roadways, or corridors, with high levels of traffic congestion. Planners identified those corridors using lane analysis as well as Global Positioning System (GPS)-based travel time and speed surveys. Congested corridors include:

•  Rockville Pike/Frederick Rd (MD 355)
• Georgia Ave (MD 97)
•  Norbeck Rd (MD 28)
• Columbia Pike (US 29)
• Connecticut Ave (MD 185)

The future transportation snapshot is partly based on an analysis of traffic within policy areas – which divide the county in 21 regions – and looks ahead to the year 2012. Called Policy Area Mobility Review (PAMR), the method forecasts future transportation demand and compares auto to transit travel. PAMR was recently adopted by the County Council as part of the 2007 Growth Policy, which is updated every two years. The traffic report recommends adoption of 2009 policy area traffic mitigation requirements that would take effect July 1.

 

The policy area analysis indicates that four areas – Germantown East, Gaithersburg City, Montgomery Village/Airpark and North Potomac – will require full trip mitigation, or actions that offset the impact of new vehicles on the road network. The growth policy requires traffic mitigation in policy areas that tip the congestion threshold before new development can be approved. In the report, transportation planners also compiled a list of active or planned projects intended to relieve congestion along some of those congested corridors.

Copies of the Highway Mobility Report are available at Park and Planning Headquarters, 8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, or access it online at
 www.mc-mncppc.org/transportation/hmr/hmr2008.shtm. The report includes a map of the 10 most congested intersections.

WHO:  Montgomery County Planning Board

WHAT:  Consideration of draft highway mobility report

WHEN:   Thursday, May 15, approximately 10:30 a.m.

WHERE:  Park and Planning Headquarters, 8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD