Montgomery County legislation aims to increase pedestrian safety by making it easier to build sidewalks

Montgomery County councilmembers want to make things safer for pedestrians – by making it easier to build sidewalks in residential neighborhoods.

The backstory:

Through the first nine months of the year, pedestrian-involved crashes were up 10 percent in Montgomery County, according to Councilmember Evan Glass. He said 335 pedestrians have been struck by vehicles, resulting in 41 serious injuries and 17 deaths.

The thing is, if you want to build a sidewalk in your neighborhood in an effort to keep people safe, Glass said that can be an arduous process.

What we know:

So, Glass' has proposed a new bill that aims to remove what he calls unnecessary administrative hurdles.

Here's one example: Glass said that right now, if you want to build a sidewalk, you need to get half of your neighbors to sign a petition in support of it in order to waive a public hearing. The legislation would lower that threshold to 25 percent of property owners located along the route.

From there, you would still need to go through an approval process, and the sidewalk has to be funded.

What they're saying:

While Glass said he is aware of some opposition to his legislation, everyone who spoke with Fox 5 in Bethesda Wednesday evening said they would support the idea of more sidewalks.

"I have several students in Silver Spring that walk to school, and there’s no sidewalk for quite a bit of way," explained Nicole Isern. "They have to cross the street. So, definitely an important issue."

Added Teresita Vanegas, "I have seen locations that I experienced myself where there’s no sidewalk, and if it coincides with bad weather, when they’re walking in the street anyway, the cars cannot see us."

What's next:

The legislation is expected to pass. It’s being cosponsored by all ten of Glass’ colleagues on the council.

A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for November 10.

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