It’s an undeniable fact that Georgia and Colesville, and to a slightly lesser degree, E-W Hwy & 16th, are “major” arterials. And, they always will be. With no freeway leading into the heart of DC, it’s pretty much a given that surface streets are going to forever take a heavy traffic load.

In SS, I’m a pedestrian 95% of the time I’m in the downtown area, so my perspective is a bit skewed. I would like to see things a little easier on us walkers. This starts with better signs and lighting, and should be reinforced with police enforcement. (Drivers, if I’ve got the walk light, I’ve got the right-of-way. Please try not to run me over because you “can.”)

That being said, especially at the intersections along Colesville between E-W & Georgia, I’ve seen some pedestrians that need some serious fining and/or jail time. Someone before talked about teens walking diagonally from the McD’s to the bus station . . . I’ve seen old men with walkers making this trek! More than once!

And, at the GA-Colesville intersection, I’ve often wondered why it’s so difficult for people to wait the extra 10-15 seconds for the walk light to change on the crosswalk between Discovery and the Panera (and thus allowing the left turning cars to actually make it through the intersection). These jerks back the cars up, which then block the crosswalk after the light changes as they try to clear the intersection.

About darn time. I live off of Flower, between Piney Branch and Carroll. At night, the street is poorly lit, plus the ’sidewalk’ on the east side of the street is a rutted, broken ribbon of asphalt mostly overgrown by shrubbery that makes you walk on the street in places. Of course I could walk on the other side, but then I’m risking my life crossing the street twice when I go to the grocery store. :)

Ellsworth Drive and the nearby section of Fenton – I agree, those should be pedestrian-centric. And, largely, they are. None of the commentators here have expressed any concerns that I’ve seen.

Georgia, Colesville, E-W Highway, and 16th are major regional traffic arteries. You cannot make those into purely-pedestrian-centric areas, because you will screw up traffic for the entire area. I am sympathetic towards making areas pedestrian-centric where it is reasonable and feasible. It is _not_ feasible to make the Georgia and Colesville intersection a pedestrian love-fest where traffic is halted half the time so you can leisurely stroll across the street diagonally.

Again, my wife and I walk quite often. We don’t use the car unless we’re travelling more than a mile or so away, or need to haul back something large with us. I am entirely sympathetic to the idea of trying to make things safer for pedestrians. But pedestrian safety is not always the same as pedestrian convenience – again, very similarly to the driver side of the equation.

I’m not knocking Montgomery County’s finest, but they are seriously short staffed. Fifty cops for the entire third district, from Eastern Avenue to the Howard County line! That’s lots of real estate to cover.

As a result, things that may be considered “quality of life” crimes (eg, jaywalking, traffic-law enforcement) are placed on the back burner.

The PD is now considering other means to keep things in check — speed cameras and red-light cameras.

Do these automated law-enforcement tools help or hurt pedestrian safety?

I have been walking to and from the metro for years, and I see this kind of thing all the time. So here’s my question: WHERE ARE THE POLICE? Even if it’s just a temporary enforcement operation, say for a few months, at least it would help to stop this problem. If these kids or their parents (I use that term loosely) were fined $500, they would think twice about doing it again.

Just last week I saw (and I am not kidding) three kids during the afternoon rush hour going from the McDonalds to the SS Metro area (by the buses). Despite lights and crosswalks on all four sides, they walked diagonally across the intersection, slowly and arrogantly, making sure that everyone in cars knew that they were the kings of the intersection. And yeah, they had their pants pulled 1/2 way down their asses with their boxers sticking out.

“One concept that I really like is what they did near Wheaton Mall ”

The fundamental point that YOU are missing is that the county has invested a lot of money and effort in making DTSS an new urban, DOWNTOWN envirnoment. And urban evironments ARE pedestrian centric. And if we don’t adjust our traffic patterns to facilitate that we’re simply fighting what we’ve worked hard to create. NYC is the most desired place to live on earth because they don’t say “forget about the pedestrians.. let’s get these cars through the city in a timely fashion”… If you chose to drive through an urban center, you do that with the prior knowledge that is going to cost you some time, because you are NOT the center focus of traffic patterns in those places. If you don’t like it, park at a garage outside the beltway and take the metro in.

Also, the study of Colesville needs to also include the circle at 16th. I walk my dog in the area 2-3 times a day and can’t tell you how nervous crossing here can make me. It was actually better before they installed sidewalks and pedestrian curbs (lowered to street level with those bumps for the blind) over the summer. Of course, they failed to install either crosswalks or pedestrian warning signs at the same time. It’s almost as if the county was trying to encourage accidents.