Aspen Hill Road
From Aspen Hill, Maryland, USA
Aspen Hill Road is one of the main roads in Aspen Hill. It is one of the few east-west routes through the neighborhood.
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Route
Aspen Hill's western terminus is at Veirs Mill Road, in the flood plain of Rock Creek. The road rises from the eastern side of the flood plain of Rock Creek and intersects Arctic Avenue at the crest of a ridge, and runs along that ridge towards the northeast, At Marianna Drive it descends from the ridge into the floodplain of the Turkey Branch of Rock Creek, crossing Parkland Drive and then Connecticut Avenue. It passes through the commercial core of Aspen Hill, and rises again to a ridge where it terminates at Georgia Avenue.
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Road Type
For most of its length, Aspen Hill Road is a two-lane road with two parking lanes. It is a Snow Emergency Route.
At the western terminus, it is a five-lane road with no parking lanes, accepting two lanes of traffic turning off of Veirs Mill Road, with two lanes discharging traffic onto northwest-bound Veirs Mill Road, and with one lane discharging traffic onto southeast-bound Veirs Mill Road. It becomes a two-lane road with parking lanes about halfway up the hill.
At the intersection of Aspen Hill Road and Parkland Drive, it becomes a four-lane road with no parking lanes. In each direction there is a lane for through and right-turning traffic, and a left-turn-only lane. Between most of the distance between the intersection with Parkland Drive and Connecticut Avenue, it is a two-lane road with parking lanes which have "no parking" signs limiting parking to non-rush hours. From this point it widens to become a five-lane road to the terminus at Georgia Avenue, and from Connecticut Avenue eastward, it is a five-lane road with a central turn lane, also called a "four lane with suicide left".
Modifications
As of late July 2008, many intersections have been fitted with "traffic calming intersection corner islands" -- also known as "bump outs" -- which ensure that it is impossible to make a turn from the parking lane even if there are no parked vehicles. It also makes it impossible to park vehicles illegally close to the intersection without blocking the entire lane. These traffic flow impediments are intended to improve the flow of traffic, according to County spokespersons.
Traffic Problems
Aspen Hill Road is at its planned capacity for traffic at most times between 7:00AM and 8:00PM. At peak rush hour, for most of its length, it exceeds planned capacity.
The intersection with Veirs Mill Road was upgraded in 2003 and flows fairly well even at peak rush hour.
The intersection with Arctic Avenue flows fairly well at most times.
The intersection with Parkland Drive generally flows fairly well, but due to the rightmost lane serving as a through-or-right-turn lane with the innermost lane serving as left-turn-only, right-turn-on-red traffic is often blocked from turning onto or off of Aspen Hill Road. Without significant condemnation of private property surrounding the intersection, it would be impossible to widen any lanes or increase the flow through capacity of this intersection.
The intersection with Connecticut Avenue flows fairly well at most times, though congestion can be very high at peak rush hour.
Shopping Center Traffic
Due to a legacy of thoughtless planning combined with heedless drivers, traffic seeking to turn left off of eastbound Aspen Hill Road into the Northgate Plaza Shopping Center will go head-to-head in the so-called "suicide left" central turn lane against traffic seeking to turn left off of westbound Aspen Hill Road into the Aspen Hill Shopping Center.
Pedestrian Hazards
Pedestrian traffic attempting to cross between North Gate Plaza and the Aspen Hill Shopping Centers is at significant risk from the oppositional turning traffic.
Possible Solutions
Due to the crime problems in Aspen Hill in general, and due to the general problems with crime associated with pedestrian tunnels, possible solutions are mostly limited to using a traffic island for blocking left turns across Aspen Hill Road into both shopping centers at the point where the driveways to both shopping centers are closest to each other; or, to regrading Aspen Hill Road to enable a cut-and-cover pedestrian deck between the shopping centers; or, constructing a disability-friendly crossing bridge.
Both shopping centers have other entrances from Aspen Hill Road and placement of a restrictive traffic island to block left-turning traffic where the shopping center entrances are closest would not constitute a hardship for either drivers or merchants, and would significantly improve pedestrian safety.
Homeowner and Property Information
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