Subject
title
Vision Zero Progress Update
end
Department
PW - Traffic & Transportation
Recommendation
Staff recommends the Mayor and Council receive a progress update briefing on the implementation of the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan, Pedestrian Master Plan, and Bikeway Master Plan.
Discussion
This Vision Zero biannual report provides an update for progress made on Vision Zero action items between January 1, 2025, and June 30, 2025. This report also includes a progress update for implementing the city's Bikeway Master Plan and Pedestrian Master Plan. While no new Vision Zero Action Items have been fully completed, city staff continue to advance on-going action items, such as evaluating, designing, and constructing sidewalks, assessing and improving intersections, and building out the city's bicycle network. Additionally, city staff continues to engage with the community and participate in public events, organize and schedule infrastructure improvements, identify new projects, and to coordinate with other agencies. This report includes an overall summary of the Vision Zero Action Plan, identifying the status of each Action Item (Attachment 1). Additionally, this report includes an updated High Injury Network Map (Attachment 2), and a map of ongoing Vision Zero projects (Attachment 3). The presentation that will be provided to the Mayor and Council on September 8, 2025, is also included in this agenda (Attachment 4.)
Vision Zero Action Plan
The Vision Zero Action Plan was adopted by the Mayor and Council in July 2020. It includes 30 action items organized into four categories - Engineering, Education, Enforcement, and Policy - to eliminate all serious injury and fatal crashes by 2030. Updates for all action items are included in the Vision Zero Action Item Progress Report (Attachment 1).
January - June 2025 Serious Injury and Fatal Crashes
Between January 1 and June 30, 2025, there were eight serious injury crashes and one fatal crash in Rockville. All crashes involved at least one motorist; the fatal crash involved a pedestrian, which took place on Frederick Road (MD 355) just north of its intersection with Watkins Pond Boulevard in June 2025. Among the serious injury crashes, four involved pedestrians and motorists, the remaining involved only motorists.
Four of the serious injury and fatal crashes occurred on state-owned and maintained roadways; two crashes occurred in parking lots, and two crashes occurred on city-owned and maintained roadways.
The following chart shows the number of fatal and serious injury crashes in Rockville between January 1 and June 30 for the past eleven years.
Between January 1 and June 30, 2025, there were 402 crashes of all severities within Rockville. On average, between 2015 and 2025, there have been 409 crashes during the first six months of the year.
High Injury Network
DPW staff updated the city’s High Injury Network (HIN, Attachment 2) using crash data from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2024. The prior HIN used crash data from 2017 to 2020.
A HIN segment is a roadway segment that has experienced four or more serious injury or fatal crashes within the five-year period. This is the same criterion used by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation Vision Zero program.
There are five roadway segments in the updated HIN.
|
Road |
From |
To |
# Serious
Injury/Fatal
Crashes |
|
Rockville Pike (MD 355) * |
Church Street |
Twinbrook Parkway |
5/4 |
|
Frederick Road (MD 355) |
George Thomas Road |
Watkins Pond Boulevard |
5/0 |
|
Norbeck Road (MD 28) |
Avery Road |
First Street |
5/0 |
|
Veirs Mill Road (MD 586) |
Atlantic Avenue |
First Street |
4/1 |
|
W Montgomery Avenue (MD 28) |
Mannakee Street |
Hurley Avenue |
3/1 |
* There have been additional serious injury crashes along the service roads parallel to Rockville Pike and in the abutting parking lots. These crashes are not included in the HIN total.
All five segments are along state-owned and maintained roadways. The 2017-2021 HIN included six streets, one of which was a city-owned and maintained roadway, N. Washington Street between E. Jefferson Street (MD 28) and Hungerford Drive (MD 355). In 2023, the Department of Public Works finished construction on Complete Streets project along this corridor, which included separated bicycle lanes, a reduced speed limit, and new on-street parking. N. Washington is no longer included on the city’s HIN.
Vision Zero Projects
Vision Zero projects include a variety of transportation safety projects and programs. The Vision Zero projects map (Attachment 3) shows the location of infrastructure projects in Rockville, which are also summarized in the table below. The projects on the map - and listed below - have been recently completed or are ongoing.
|
Project Type |
West of I-270 |
Between I-270 and MD 355 |
East of MD 355 |
|
Bicycle Facilities |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
Complete Streets |
2 |
5 |
2 |
|
Sidewalks |
0 |
2 |
12 |
|
Intersection Safety Audits* |
2 |
14 |
14 |
|
Signal Upgrades |
2 |
4 |
1 |
|
Traffic Calming |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Pedestrian Bridge |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Bicycle Fix It Rack |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Total |
9 |
29 |
32 |
*There are 14 intersection safety audits along MD 355, split equally between “Between I-270 and MD 355” and “East of MD 355.”
The Vision Zero crash analysis evaluates locations in Rockville where crashes have occurred, which influences the selection of intersections and roadway segments for Vision Zero projects. Additionally, the Sidewalk Prioritization Policy identifies roadways with missing sidewalk segments and the priority with which they should be evaluated and constructed, if feasible. Other project locations are influenced by funding sources, which can require a project to be in equity emphasis areas or near mass transit.
Outreach
DPW staff continues to make themselves available to attend community group meetings to discuss the Vision Zero program. Residents can request staff attend a regularly scheduled community association meeting by emailing the Traffic and Transportation Division. This opportunity is also listed on the city’s Vision Zero webpage. If a group is not part of a formal neighborhood or civic association, they may also request a Vision Zero presentation and staff will coordinate with nearby recreation centers or other facilities to host the meeting.
City staff also provides updates related to the Vision Zero program to the Rockville Transportation and Mobility Commission (TMC), the Rockville Pedestrian Advocacy Committee (RPAC), and the Rockville Bicycle Advisory Committee (RBAC) during their regularly scheduled monthly meetings, which are open to the public.
DPW staff hosted Bike to Work Day pitstops on May 15, 2025, led pedestrian safety walks and shared Vision Zero materials at the Rockville Main Street Safety Day, and is scheduled to participate in the 2025 Montgomery County Family Bicycle Festival in Rockville. The Rockville City Police Department also held a “Trike a Thon” with the Rockville Nursery School at Potomac Woods Park and facilitated a seven week on-bike training class for elementary students at Maryvale Elementary School.
Between January 1 and June 30, 2025, the city’s Communications and Community Engagement Office shared 59 social media posts related to Vision Zero. The posts featured Vision Zero-related safety tips, projects and funding, and amplified Montgomery County Department of Transportation and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) events, surveys and outreach.
Those 59 social media posts included 15 X (formerly Twitter) posts, 26 Facebook posts and 18 Instagram posts. They averaged 766 unique viewers per post, i.e. 766 people saw each post.
The city's website has two Vision Zero-related webpages. One is a general introduction to the Vision Zero program (www.rockvillemd.gov/visionzero). The other is a subpage for Vision Zero projects (www.rockvillemd.gov/visionzeroprojects). Between January 1 and June 30, 2025, 306 people viewed the Vision Zero general webpage and 318 people viewed the Vision Zero projects webpage.
Additionally, there were eight Vision Zero-related articles posted that appeared in print in "Rockville Reports" and were posted to RockvilleReports.com between January 1 and June 30, 2025. Combined, the RockvilleReports.com articles were viewed 671 times. The print edition of "Rockville Reports" is mailed to nearly 32,000 residential and business addresses across the city.
Grants
City staff regularly applies for grants at the regional, state, and federal levels to supplement the existing city budget for Vision Zero activities. The table below lists the grant status for various ongoing multimodal transportation projects.
|
Program |
Project |
Amount Awarded |
|
FY 20 Transportation Alternatives Program |
N. Stonestreet Avenue Corridor Complete Streets Design |
$280,000 |
|
FY 23 Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program |
Maryvale Park to Redgate Park Shared Use Path Study and Design |
$216,000 |
|
FY 23 Neighborhood Access and Equity (Reconnecting Communities) |
Twinbrook Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge Feasibility Study and Cost Benefit Analysis |
$284,000 |
|
FY 23 Safe Streets and Roads for All |
Vision Zero Intersection Safety Audits |
$320,000 |
|
FY 24 Kim Lamphier Maryland Bikeways Network Program |
E. Jefferson Street and Halpine Road Bicycle Facility Study and Design |
$88,000 |
|
FY 24 Transportation Alternatives |
Fleet and Monroe Shared Use Path Design |
$224,000 |
|
FY 23-26 Maryland Transportation Department Carbon Reduction Program |
Twinbrook Area Bikeshare Stations |
$371,200 |
|
FY 25 Transportation Alternatives |
Scott-Veirs Drive Shared Use Path Design |
$200,000 |
|
FY 26 MWCOG Regional Roadway Safety Program |
Rollins Avenue Complete Streets Study |
$80,000 |
|
Total Awarded |
9 Ongoing Grant Funded Projects |
$2,063,200 |
The fiscal year listed for the above grant programs represents the fiscal year of the funding from the grantor and does not necessarily reflect when the project was added to the City’s capital improvement program or when staff initiated work on the project.
DPW staff also submitted a grant application for $240,000 to the FY 26 Maryland Department of Transportation Climate Focused Projects program to complete a shared use path study and design project along Research Boulevard. The award announcement is pending. City staff will continue to seek external funding to leverage existing resources and advance the Vision Zero program.
Bikeway Master Plan
The Bikeway Master Plan was approved in April 2017. The plan highlights bicycle-related policies and proposes different bicycle facilities throughout the city to improve bicycling for riders of all ages and abilities. While this plan does not include specific “action items” like the Vision Zero Action Plan or Pedestrian Master Plan, it provides recommendations for bicycle facilities in Rockville.
City staff continues to implement the recommended facilities from the Bikeway Master Plan and seeks grants or other external funding opportunities to help advance bicycle projects. While many shared roadway projects require only signage or pavement markings, bicycle lanes, shared-use paths, and cycle tracks (also known as separated or protected bicycle lanes) often require comprehensive feasibility studies, repurposing a motor vehicle travel lane, and detailed engineering designs before construction can be carried out.
The following table includes the total distance of recommended bicycle facilities, and the percentage of facilities constructed since plan adoption.
|
Facility Type |
Constructed (miles) |
Total Recommended (miles) |
Percentage Complete |
|
Bicycle Lanes |
1.75 |
8.53 |
20.52% |
|
Shared Roadways |
6.69 |
17.34 |
38.58% |
|
Climbing Lanes |
0.37 |
2.77 |
13.36% |
|
Shared-Use Paths |
1.33 |
5.40 |
24.63% |
|
Cycle Tracks |
0.77 |
5.98 |
12.88% |
|
Total |
10.91 |
40.02 |
27.26% |
There are two bicycle facilities that are expected to be constructed in 2025 on Mannakee Street and Congressional Lane. On Mannakee Street, shared roadways will be installed between W. Montgomery Avenue and Bradford Drive, and buffered bicycle lanes between Bradford Drive and Hungerford Drive (MD 355). For Congressional Lane, shared roadways will be installed between Rollins Avenue and E. Jefferson Street, and buffered bicycle lanes between E. Jefferson Street and Rockville Pike (MD 355). Additionally, new bicycle lanes and shared roadway markings are expected to be installed on Martins Lane in the summer of 2026.
Fleet Street and Monroe Street Complete Street
The Fleet Street and Monroe Street Complete Street project consists of preparing an engineering design for bicycle facilities along Fleet Street between Maryland Avenue and Richard Montgomery High School and along Monroe Street between Fleet Street and E. Middle Lane. DPW staff is currently coordinating with Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) and the city’s Procurement Department to advertise the request for proposal to obtain a qualified consultant.
E. Jefferson Street and Halpine Road
This project consists of evaluating and preparing a design for bicycle facilities along E. Jefferson Street between Rollins Avenue and Congressional Lane and along Halpine Road between E. Jefferson Street and Rockville Pike. DPW presented this project to RBAC, RPAC, the TMC, and to public in the spring of 2025. Staff is incorporating public comments into the proposed designs and this project is expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year.
Bicycle Fix It Racks
DPW staff procured four bicycle fix-it racks and coordinated with Recreation and Parks Department staff to identify locations to install the new racks. It is anticipated that concrete pads and racks will be installed by the end of the calendar year.
Bikeshare
The city was awarded $371,200 from the Maryland Department of Transportation Carbon Reduction Program to procure, install, and maintain four new bikeshare stations in the Twinbrook neighborhood. Currently, city staff is coordinating with MDOT SHA to finalize a grant agreement, and to prepare an agreement with MCDOT to incorporate these stations into the county’s bikeshare program.
Pedestrian Master Plan
The Pedestrian Master Plan was adopted in October 2023 and was developed over the course of two years with input from the Rockville Pedestrian Advocacy Committee, the Rockville Bicycle Advisory Committee, and the Transportation and Mobility Commission. This plan emphasizes the need to improve existing infrastructure and refine polices so that the needs of pedestrians are better considered while building transportation infrastructure in Rockville. Similar to the Vision Zero Action Plan, the Pedestrian Master Plan includes action items for city staff. Progress has been made on the following action items.
Action Item 1c – Sidewalk Prioritization Policy
The Sidewalk Prioritization Policy is guidance used by DPW staff to identify which sideway gaps should be evaluated, designed, and constructed first. The Pedestrian Master Plan recommended updating the policy to include additional criteria to further reflect the built environment surrounding a sidewalk gap. DPW staff prepared new prioritization criteria and shared it with RPAC and the TMC for their comments and suggestions. Staff will incorporate their comments before sharing a revised prioritization with the public.
Action Item 5a – Sidewalks on Both Sides
DPW continues to implement the sidewalk evaluation, design, and construction program. The following sidewalks were recently constructed.
• Monroe Street, between the New Mark Esplanade trail to Dogwood Park Entrance
• Virginia Avenue, between Woodland Road and England Terrace
• Gail Avenue, between Lewis Avenue and Veirs Mill Road
• Crawford Drive, between Gail Avenue and Hillcrest Park
The following sidewalks segments are currently under construction or will be constructed this fall.
• Brooke Drive, between Lewis Avenue and Stanley Avenue
• Nelson Street, between Beall Avenue and the Woodley Gardens Shopping Center
• Welsh Park Drive, between Mannakee Street and Welsh Park entrance
The following sidewalk segments are currently under design.
• Potomac Valley Road, between Falls Road/Maryland Avenue to New Mark Esplanade
• Highland Avenue, between S. Stonestreet Avenue and Grandin Avenue
• Midway Avenue, between Crawford Drive and Stillwell Road
• Carr Avenue, between Luckett Street and Forest Avenue
• Charles Street, between McArthur Drive and Park Road
The following sidewalk segments will be evaluated for feasibility this fiscal year.
• Aleutian Avenue between Midway Avenue and Trail entrance (Priority Group C, no sidewalk on either side)
• Blandford Street between road end and Mt. Vernon Pl (Priority Group D, no sidewalk on either side)
• Calvert Road between Roxboro Rd/Walking Path and Brent Rd (Priority Group D & E, no sidewalk on either side)
• Denham Rd between Maple Avenue and Baltimore Rd (Priority Group C & D, no sidewalk on either side)
• Laura Lane between Dale Drive and Evans St (Priority Group C, no sidewalk on either side)
Action Item 5b – Sidewalk Gap Inventory
In concert with updating the Sidewalk Prioritization Policy, DPW staff is currently preparing an inventory of all sidewalk gaps in the city. This inventory evaluates the potential obstacles to constructing a sidewalk segment, including grading, right-of-way availability, presence of street trees, possible utility conflicts, and drainage. This will help staff determine the level of effort and investment expected for constructing a sidewalk. The inventory will work in tandem with the prioritization to help the city determine sidewalk gaps to construct.
Action Item 6a – New Shared Use Paths
City staff is finalizing the procurement for the contractor to design the Scott-Veirs Drive shared use path. This project is funded by a Transportation Alternatives Program grant and will prepare an engineering plan that can be used for future construction. The shared use path will be along Veirs Drive and Scott Drive and be designed to connect to the Carl Henn Millennium Trail at Wootton Parkway and end at the city boundary at Glenn Mill Road.
Staff has also started the Stonestreet Corridor Improvements project to prepare a design plan to provide pedestrian, bicycle, and motor vehicle facilities along N. Stonestreet Avenue from Lincoln Avenue to Park Road and along Park Road between N. and S. Stonestreet avenues. The project includes complete sidewalks on both sides of N. Stonestreet Avenue. The survey work is nearly complete, and the design work has been initiated. The draft design will be shared with the public for their comments.
Additionally, DPW staff submitted a MDOT Climate Focused Project grant application to fund the study and design of a Research Boulevard shared use path. This path is proposed along the full extent of Research Boulevard, from W. Montgomery Avenue to Shady Grove Road. Staff sought funding for this project under a different program last year and was advised by MDOT to seek grant funding through the Climate Focused Project funding program. It is expected that the award for this program will be announced in the fall.
Action Item 7b and 7c – Pedestrian Connections and Direct Pedestrian Routes
DPW staff provided comments and recommended changes to Community Planning and Development Services (CPDS) Department staff on the new zoning ordinance regarding requirements to connect adjacent properties with pedestrian facilities and to provide a safe and separated pedestrian route from the public right-of-way to the entrance of a development. DPW staff will continue to coordinate with CPDS staff to ensure that pedestrian facilities are being considered and incorporated into the zoning ordinance rewrite.
Mayor and Council History
In 2017, the Mayor and Council adopted an update to the Bikeway Master Plan. This plan was originally adopted in 1998 and updated again in 2004.
In 2018, the Mayor and Council adopted a resolution endorsing Vision Zero and adopting a goal of moving the city towards zero traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. In July 2020, the Mayor and Council adopted the Vision Zero Action Plan.
In 2023, the Mayor and Council adopted the Pedestrian Master Plan, which is the first pedestrian plan for the city.
The Mayor and Council last received a briefing on the progress of all three plans in February 2025.
Boards and Commissions Review
Department of Public Works staff acts as the liaison for the Transportation and Mobility Commission, the Rockville Pedestrian Advocacy Committee, and the Rockville Bicycle Advisory Committee, and meets with each group during their monthly meetings. In addition to providing updates regarding the status of various city transportation projects, DPW staff solicits suggestions and recommendations from each group regarding Vision Zero action items and projects. Staff also seeks their input and guidance regarding grant opportunities and their support for grant applications.
Next Steps
Department of Public Works staff will continue to implement the listed action items from the Vision Zero Action Plan, Bikeway Master Plan and Pedestrian Master Plan. Staff will provide the next update on all three plans in February 2026.