Pedestrian Shortcut Map

The Pedestrian Shortcut Map is part of the county’s first Pedestrian Master Plan aimed at making walking and rolling safer, more comfortable, convenient and accessible for pedestrians of all ages and abilities in all parts of the county. It is also an effort to understand what informal pedestrian connections – apparent in trodden grass, dirt or gravel on public or private property – exist in Montgomery County.

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Additional Ways to Submit Pedestrian Shortcuts

If you want to share a pedestrian shortcut, but are unable to do so on the map, please complete this form, or email the following information to Eli Glazier, eli.glazier@montgomeryplanning.org.

Where does this shortcut begin?(Required)

Where does this shortcut end?(Required)

Can pedestrians use this?(Required)

Yes

Can bicyclists use this?(Required)

Yes

What do you use this shortcut for?(Required)

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

FAQs

What is the Pedestrian Shortcut Map?

This map is an effort to understand what informal pedestrian connections exist in Montgomery County. Called “people’s choice paths,” “desire lines,” “goat paths,” “pedestrian shortcuts” and other names, these connections may look like trodden grass, dirt or gravel but are important paths for pedestrians looking to make direct trips in Montgomery County where sidewalks or trails don’t go. Many people use these connections on a daily basis to run errands, get to work or school, connect to transit and exercise.
Why did you create this map?

Pedestrian shortcuts are an important part of the existing pedestrian network in Montgomery County and the Pedestrian Master Plan team needs your help to identify where they are. This information will supplement a map of pedestrian conditions that the team is collecting on existing trails, sidewalks and crossings as part of a Pedestrian Level of Comfort analysis.
How can this map help our community?

Pedestrian shortcuts are important for pedestrians across Montgomery County, but they may not be accessible for people with mobility concerns, during or after rainfall, or at night. This map will help improve communities by highlighting connections that are important for pedestrian travel that aren’t officially sanctioned or formalized.

The Pedestrian Master Plan team will then consider this information when making recommendations to improve the quality and safety of these connections. This will make walking and rolling safer, more comfortable, more convenient and more accessible for pedestrians of all ages and abilities in all parts of the county.
How exactly does the map work?

Community members interested in sharing the location of a pedestrian shortcut can first click the line button in the upper right corner of the smaller map on the right side of the screen. Then, draw the path line and complete the survey beneath. Before drawing your pedestrian shortcut, check the big map on the left to make sure another person has not already drawn it. If they have, you can click on the line and provide feedback.
What if the shortcuts are in unsafe places?
This all sounds great. How will these improvements be built?

The pedestrian shortcuts that are included in the Pedestrian Master Plan will become master-planned pedestrian connections. This means they can be built one of two ways: either as a Montgomery County Department of Transportation capital project or through private development, just like other master-planned improvements. As capital projects, these connections would compete for funding against other countywide capital improvement priorities.
Do you have a sense of how many of these pedestrian shortcuts there are in the county?

Last Updated: June 18, 2020

Montgomery County
Planning Department
2425 Reedie Drive, 14th Floor
Wheaton, MD 20902

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