Montgomery County Department of Transportation

Traffic and Safety Update

/ Anna White

By Julie Lees and Jean Kaplan Teichroew

The Traffic Committee has been working with Oscar Yen, a traffic operations engineer at the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), to review traffic-control and pedestrian-safety measures in North Woodside. Following is an update on the issues we’ve discussed and their status:

  1. Glen Ross, 3rd, Warren, and Lanier: To improve visibility in the intersection, MCDOT is working on the bump out at the corner of Glen Ross and 3rd. Neighbors in adjacent homes have been contacted, and the plan has been approved.

  2. Columbia:
    a. To fix the stop sign at the exit of the public parking lot, MCDOT sent an email to Montgomery County Parking Department, which maintains the parking lot.
    b. A new stop sign was installed at Rookwood.

  3. Intersection of Luzerne and Columbia: The committee suggested adding a crosswalk given the church, day care center, school bus stop, and traffic volume. But MCDOT determined that
    additional traffic control is not necessary because adequate sight lines allow pedestrians to see approaching vehicles and sufficient gaps in traffic allow crossing safely at this location. Nor will MCDOT install a crosswalk, but a work order has been sent to the shop to relocate the “No Parking/Permit Parking” sign to increase the sight line.

    Neighbors: If you can photograph overparking and/or pedestrians unable to cross safely at Luzerne and Columbia, you may help us focus MCDOT’s attention on this problem.*

  4. 2nd and Luzerne pedestrian-safety issues, according to MCDOT:
    a. All the crosswalk striping work orders were sent to the shop and forwarded to the pavement contractor.
    b. Visibility of the stop signs is adequate.
    c. Oscar had not been made aware of previous lighting concerns, but he will check to see if the streetlight at this intersection has been upgraded to LED.

  5. 2001 Glen Ross: A work order has been sent to the shop to remove the “No Thru Trucks Over 10,000 G.V.W.R.” sign. (G.V.W.R. = Gross Vehicle Weight Rating)

  6. Grace Church: MCDOT will not install a 25-mph speed limit sign because it would stand too close to the 15-mph advisory sign for the speed humps. (Note: Hanover has a 25-mph speed limit sign that was installed in error, but it will not be removed.)

  7. Stratton traffic circle: MCDOT states that a work order will be created to add yield signs along all approaches to the circle. In addition, Oscar will check the parking and no-parking zones within the circle; no parking should be allowed within the circle or 35 feet approaching it. Existing signs designate permit parking and time-of-day parking restrictions.

  8. Additional Stratton issues, according to MCDOT: A study can be conducted to
    see if speed humps are warranted. Oscar will request a 48-hour speed/volume assessment. Another measure to handle cut-through traffic is access restrictions, which will also apply to residents.

    a. Bump outs and chicanes are not feasible on this street because it is narrow
    and vehicles park on both sides.d
    b. MCDOT does not install “Children at Play” or “Traffic Calming Zone” signs.
    c. Oscar will check both ends of Stratton for speed limit signs. If absent, they can
    be added.
    d. 2nd at Stratton: MCDOT cannot install pedestrian signs (indicating pedestrian activity) for vehicles turning right from 2nd onto Stratton. Such signs are installed only at an unprotected crosswalk on the same roadway; here the crosswalk is on Stratton—not 2nd. Oscar noted that traffic law requires motorists to stop for pedestrians once they are already standing in a crosswalk; pedestrians waiting on the curb do not have the right-of-way.

* Contact the Traffic and Safety Committee

Addressing Our Community Tree Triangle

/ Anna White

by Cheryl Copeland


The NWCA Community Design Committee formed in early 2021. Our original discussions focused on the location of a memorial bench, but our goal was and remains to take a broader look at the use of neighborhood green spaces. We are interested in placemaking within the shared publicly owned pieces of land that are part of the fabric of North Woodside.

There are areas within our neighborhood that are imbued with memory as places for community interactions. One of these is the triangle at the intersection of Luzerne Ave. and Glen Ross Rd. where the community tree sits. It has served for decades as the place where neighbors come together to celebrate winter holidays. In the summer of 2020 it was where our youth called neighbors to action. And popular food trucks popped up alongside it in 2021. Alas, those moments, when the community injects the space with energy, are brief and few. The minimally maintained triangle is forgettable at best, and not many neighbors are drawn there during other times of the year. This place could be so much more than it is! At the urging of an adjacent neighbor, the Community Design Committee has begun to address this opportunity.

The land that we are referring to as the Community Tree Triangle is owned by Montgomery County and maintained by the Department of Transportation (MCDOT). Community Design Committee members have already been in communication with our assigned project contact (our county arborist) and a MCDOT traffic engineer. These officials appear very willing to approve NWCA’s efforts to improve the site. We’ve learned that permits will not be required, but county review of a design and coordination of its implementation are. We will maintain regular communications with the various county entities to ensure that improvements can move forward.

With the approval of the NWCA Board, members of the Community Design Committee solicited proposals for a master plan from three local women-owned landscape design firms. We met with each firm at the triangle and shared the following guidelines for the design:

  • Replace the grass with plantings of native species sourced from environmentally conscious growers and suppliers to attract pollinators and provide food and cover for birds. Consider the educational opportunity these types of plantings could offer the community.
  • Maintain and possibly enhance the use of the area for the annual neighborhood holiday tree and menorah lighting events.
  • Consider features like stepstone pathways to invite the community to engage in the space.
  • Consider sight lines for traffic safety throughout the year.
  • Long-term maintenance should be minimal.
The NWCA Board voted to approve the proposal from Strawberry Fields

After careful review and input from the committee, the NWCA Board voted to approve the proposal from Strawberry Fields Design, LLC, to provide master plan landscape design services. Strawberry Fields was selected for its experience working with Montgomery County and on community projects of similar scope and scale and previous work in our neighborhood. Owner Kellie Cox is communicative, engaging, and knowledgeable. The board agreed to move forward with this investment in the design for a piece of land within our neighborhood because of the potential impacts on the community as a whole: visual, environmental, safety, and use.

Neighbors will be invited to engage in the design at key points in the process:

  • Prior to the landscape design work beginning, neighbors will be able to provide input via an online form and participate in a neighborhood meeting to chat with the designer, ask questions, and offer their ideas.
  • Once Strawberry Fields has developed a preliminary design plan, the Community Design Committee would share it with neighbors for further input at a meeting and/or via the neighborhood listserv and website.
  • It would also be shared with our county contacts for their review and input.
  • Strawberry Fields would take all the above input into consideration before finalizing a master plan.


The timeline for all of this will be sent out via the listserv in the coming months. We look forward to hearing what our neighbors would like to see happen with our shared space in the heart of our community!

The landscape master plan is a first step in making the Community Tree Triangle a more special place for our North Woodside community. Implementing that plan will require funding to turn drawings into plants and stepstones and flowers. At almost 2,200 square feet, this is a large area. The cost to achieve our goal is not yet known, but we can anticipate that it could be substantial. Rest assured that the Community Design Committee is already exploring ways to meet the challenge, such as grant opportunities, work parties, fundraising initiatives, and phasing the work to implement as funds become available.

Donations are always appreciated as an investment in our shared community design efforts. Interested neighbors may go to visit the NWCA donation page and follow instructions for contribution to the Neighborhood Beautification and Memorial Fund.

If discussions about the potential improvements to our neighborhood green spaces interest you, please join our Community Design Committee email list.

On December 18, 2022, neighbors gathered at the Community Tree Triangle for the 74th Annual Tree Lighting and 5th Annual Menorah Lighting and enjoyed hot cider and latkes. Photo by Phyllida Paterson

Traffic Report

/ Anna White

By Jean Kaplan Teichroew

Adding a bump out and a stop sign will convert this intersection to an all-way stop. Image provided by Oscar Yen, MCDOT

The NWCA Traffic Committee and six neighbors met with Oscar Yen, an engineer in the Traffic Engineering Studies Section of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), on April 13 to review pedestrian safety and traffic-calming measures at key neighborhood
intersections.

Read on for highlights from his summary evaluation and recommendations, which include conducting a speed study on Luzerne near Louis and preparing a work order to add crosswalks with proper striping and/or stop-bar markings at the intersections listed below. (MCDOT will also perform another traffic study for all-way stop controls and other traffic-calming mitigations once Woodlin Elementary School and the Talbot Ave. bridge reopen and heavier traffic resumes.)

Louis and Luzerne
Examine the feasibility of a curb bump out on Louis at the stop sign and trim foliage blocking the stop sign and the east leg approach of Luzerne.

Louis-Glen Ross-3rd-Warren
Build a bump out at the southeast corner of the intersection of 3rd Ave. and Glen Ross Rd. to convert this intersection to an all-way stop control and address the no-stop condition for Warren St.

Luzerne-Louis-Lanier
Create a bump out to reconfigure the intersection to a 90-degree T-shape, and possibly relocate the stop sign to increase its visibility.

Hanover and 3rd
Readjust the crooked stop signs and research a more visible location for the sign on Hanover near the fire hydrant.

Grace Church and 3rd
Add stop-bar street markings to help draw attention to existing stop signs, especially when foliage obscures them.

Talbot Ave. Bridge
MCDOT will conduct a traffic study once the bridge reopens and evaluate for additional traffic-calming measures.

This article first ran in the Spring 2022 issue of the Beacon.

Street Tree Report (Summer 2022)

/ Anna White
Closeup of a Yellowwood tree, blooming for the first time this year, on Elkhart St.

The county arborist has inspected our street tree requests. We will receive 31 new street trees sometime between late fall of this year and spring of 2023. Thirteen of those will be shade trees. You’ll see pink splashes painted on curbs around the neighborhood where the trees will go.

Most species requested were natives. This means we will increase the number of host plants for certain native moths and butterflies, and provide a more welcoming environment for our native birds, who eat the caterpillars of those moths and butterflies, as well as the nuts, nutlets, catkins, seeds, berries, and drupes that the trees provide. The native species will be planted by Casey Trees in conjunction with the county using a grant from the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection’s Water Quality Protection Fund, administered through the Chesapeake Bay Trust. The non-natives will be funded and planted in the usual manner by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation tree division.

Most people get their first choice of species. First choices for shade trees this year included blackgums, American elm, a couple of kinds of oaks, American linden (basswood), Lacebark elm, and an American sycamore. First choices for minor trees included crabapples, sweetbay magnolias, redbuds, chokecherries, hophornbeams, a serviceberry, and one or two ornamental (Japanese) cherries.

The county will give us one ornamental native shade tree in the pocket park at Lanier Dr and 3rd Ave, five feet behind the Lanier Dr guardrail. As this is not a priority location, they will use a tree freed up by cancellations, but have tentatively scheduled a blackgum. If that isn’t available, they will pick a native with either flowers or attractive fall foliage. This plan was approved by the neighborhood Community Design committee.

Casey Trees has not yet removed the stakes and straps on the trees they planted in spring 2021 for reasons related to the pilot nature of the project that year. However they will remove them when they take the stakes and straps for trees they planted this past spring.

Finally, some of our Yellowwood street trees bloomed for this first time this year. This is a relatively rare tree and I had never seen it in its full glory. The photo above is a closeup of one on Elkhart St.

— Phyllida Paterson, Tree Committee