Montgomery County has been stepping up its seriousness when it comes to building bike infrastructure. Next up? Silver Spring’s first protected bikeway.

Map of the proposed separated bike lanes. Screenschot by author. Image from Montgomery County.

The county is considering protected lanes that would run for about a mile along Cedar and Spring Streets, between 2nd Avenue and Wayne Avenue. The route circles around the northern and eastern edges of downtown Silver Spring, close to many of its major destinations and connecting with bike routes along several cross streets.

Another way to describe the lanes’ location is to say they’ll be right in the middle of Montgomery County’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Priority Area for Silver Spring, which is where planners are looking to make biking and walking a safer, more appealing options.

At the bikeway’s western end (near Spring Street and Second Avenue), it will connect to the future Capital Crescent Trail, and at its eastern end (at Cedar Street and Wayne Avenue) it will connect to the future Silver Spring Green Trail; both trails are being built as part of the Purple Line.

After Purple Line construction, the bikeway could extend to Sixteenth Street.

Planners will unveil more specific designs at a public meeting on February 2nd. Those details would show what type of barriers will go up between the bikeway and traffic, and how the bikeway will cross intersections.