Montgomery County finished a summer’s worth of road safety work before the new school year starts next week.
Crews completed eight spot safety projects and finished three sidewalk renovations near public school campuses. Major construction on Montgomery Village Avenue, a corridor the county flagged for its crash history, is also nearly complete.
Vision Zero Coordinator Wade Holland confirmed the Montgomery Village Avenue update at County Executive Marc Elrich’s weekly briefing Wednesday.
Repaving is largely finished. Curb work, accessibility ramps, sidewalks and a new traffic signal are done, too. Some smaller work remains, including new crossing beacons at bus stops. Holland said none of it should disrupt classes this year.
What else is changing on the roads
The three completed sidewalk renovations were near Ridgeview Middle, Shriver Elementary and Watkins Mill. The goal is more distance between pedestrians and fast-moving traffic.
Construction is also underway on Hampshire Avenue between University Boulevard and Powder Mill Road, another corridor the county has flagged for its crash history. Crews are repairing curbs, upgrading accessibility ramps, and improving lighting and signals there.
The county has increased pedestrian safety funding 188% since Elrich took office. Funding went from $1.78 million to more than $5 million this fiscal year. That money goes toward more signals, beacons and protected crossings.
Crashes are up over last year
Preliminary 2026 data show that while serious and fatal crashes fell 5% compared to pre-pandemic years, collisions in general rose 13% compared to the same period last year. Elrich called that trend concerning heading into the new school year.
“Speed is a killer,” Elrich said. “Speed makes it harder to react to things that come in your way.”
Sharing the road with school buses: what the law says
Maryland law requires drivers to stop for a stopped school bus in nearly every situation, Elrich said. Drivers must stop in both directions on two-lane roads, roads with a center turn lane and multi-lane roads. The only exception is a divided highway with a physical median. Drivers going the same direction as the bus must also stop; only drivers on the far side of the median can proceed, but with caution.
Every MCPS school bus is equipped with a camera system that records drivers who fail to stop, allowing citations to be issued, Elrich said.
Maryland law requires drivers to stop for school buses in nearly every situation. (Image credit: Montgomery County)
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