Photo: AP

As mentioned here earlier, the Gaithersburg police department is using a grant from the Maryland State Highway Administration to start a pedestrian safety campaign along Route 355, where they‘ll be issuing warnings and tickets to pedestrians and drivers who break traffic laws during the latter half of September. Sgt. Scott Scarff told us the area they’ll be focusing on is North Frederick Avenue (355) between Brookes Avenue and Odendhal Avenue. He said the department analyzed data from the last three years of traffic collisions and realized that that stretch may be the most dangerous for pedestrians in the city.

“We've had several pedestrian collisions in this area, though we haven’t had any fatalities yet, thankfully,” he said.

In addition to its heavy foot traffic and handful of bus stops, Scarff said this section of 355 is home to what he likes to call a “suicide lane” -- a central lane where cars going in both directions have the option to turn left, with curved yellow arrows going in both directions. Such lanes are uncomfortable enough for drivers, let alone pedestrians, and Scarff said his department found that a lot of people trying to cross the road outside of crosswalks were getting stuck there. A lot of these pedestrians are trying to get to bus stops that sit in the middle of the block on the other side of the road with no crosswalk.

“They get stranded in that suicide lane. There’s no median at all there,” said Scarff. “People are crossing mid-block when a crosswalk is two or three hundred feet away.”

From Sept. 13th through the 17th, Gaithersburg police will be posted up at three different locations along 355, strictly doing an “education” campaign. Since a lot of residents in the area are Hispanic, Scarff said they’re going to have some safety literature in both English and Spanish. After the 17th, they’re going to follow up with some ticketing.

“We know from experience that without some penalty it doesn’t change behavior,” Scarff said.