2024 Technical Update

Target speed is the desired operating speed for a roadway. This is in contrast to the posted speed limit, which is the legally enforceable speed limit and is oftentimes higher than the target speed. The posted speed limit can become the target speed limit when all of the factors that influence travel speed are in place, including adjacent land use, access to adjacent land use, building massing and setbacks, pedestrian and bicycle activity, road classification and function, traffic control, intersection spacing, traffic calming, posted speed limit, enforcement and roadway geometry. On a well-designed street, the target speed is self-enforcing.

Complete Streets are roadways that are designed and operated to provide safe, accessible, and healthy travel for all users of the roadway system, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and motorists. On a complete street, it is intuitive and safe to cross the street, walk to shops, and bicycle to school.  The approach to Complete Streets will vary in different parts of Montgomery County. Complete Streets in rural Boyds, suburban Olney, and downtown Wheaton will all look different depending on the adjacent land uses. Some areas may have dedicated bus only lanes on certain streets, and some streets may vary in what degree of bicycle facilities they have or  whether they require any bike facilities at all. Complete Streets function as a system, ensuring that the transportation network as a whole provides safe and efficient access for all roadway users and only provides designated spaces for each mode when needed.

Transitioning from the previous street classification system to the CSDG street classification system is a three-step process, with the Master Plan of Highways and Transitways Technical Update representing the third and final step in the process:

• Phase 1: Enactment of Bill 24-22 and Bill 34-22
  With the enactment of Bill 24-22 on November 7, 2022 and Bill 34-22 on December 27, 2022, the County Council established interim designations of CSDG Area types (e.g. Downtown, Town Center, etc.), as well as interim translations for CSDG street types (Downtown Boulevard, Downtown Street, Town Center Boulevard, etc.) based on the designated CSDG area types and the previous street classifications. Street types not covered in the CSDG, including Freeways and Parkways, have been grandfathered into the revised MPOHT. Status: Complete
• Phase 2: Master Plan Area Types in the Pedestrian Master Plan
  To address some deficiencies in the Phase 1 area type designations, the Pedestrian Master Plan replaces the interim area type designations in the county code with permanent area type designations throughout the county. Changes to CSDG street types will occur in locations of the county where the area type is modified. Status: Complete
• Phase 3: Master Plan Street Types in a Technical Update to the Master Plan of Highways and Transitways
  To address the remaining deficiencies in the Phase 1 street type translations, the plan update will reevaluate the transportation function of all streets to fully ensure that each street is accurately classified. Status: Ongoing with this MPOHT technical update

Montgomery County is in the process of transitioning from an auto-oriented transportation system to one that provides safety, transportation choice and accessibility to county and regional destinations for all modes of transportation. As part of this transition, the county is reclassifying all streets from a “functional classification” approach, which described streets based on their use by automobiles, to a “complete streets” approach, which classifies streets based on the type of land use they serve and the transportation function for all modes of transportation. This transition is necessary to ensure that Montgomery County’s streets are aligned with the county’s safety, equity and climate change goals as articulated in Thrive Montgomery 2050, the Climate Action Plan and the Vision Zero Action Plan.

While many projects have been completed and many are underway, it took Montgomery County over 70 years to build out its auto-oriented transportation system and it will take many more years to retrofit our streets to a “complete streets” approach. Complete Street projects are being implemented through multiple approaches, including major retrofit of an entire roadway, incrementally on portions of a roadway, or through small neighborhood initiatives. Both state and county government, as well as private development, are contributing to these projects.

As a technical update, the purpose of this effort is to ensure that new street types adhere to the vision of streets as identified in previously approved master plans. This vision is aligned with the multimodal focus of the CSDG to ensure that not only do streets adequately serve access and through traffic needs, but also that walking, bicycling and other non-motorized vehicular needs are addressed. Furthermore, the Master Plan of Highways and Transitways does not include Neighborhood Streets and Neighborhood Yield Streets that serve predominantly residential areas with low volumes of motor vehicle traffic, and which represent the vast majority of streets in Montgomery County.

The MPOHT technical update will continue to implement the principles of the CSDG by ensuring that all primary streets in the county are accurately classified. Because they incorporate land use context and a multimodal focus on roadways, the complete streets classifications aim to improve economic competitiveness, racial equity and social justice, and environmental health and resilience, create more transportation choices, and increase access to destinations in the county and the region — all important concepts of Thrive Montgomery 2050.