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Calverton Getting Pedestrian Upgrades

By: Matt Bush // September 21, 2011
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One of three "refuge islands" built along Castle Boulevard in Calverton.  In addition to slowing cars...the islands allow riders to board busses without getting into the road.
Matt Bush
One of three "refuge islands" built along Castle Boulevard in Calverton.  In addition to slowing cars...the islands allow riders to board busses without getting into the road.

In Maryland, the neighborhood of Calverton in Montgomery County is the latest to receive new pedestrian safety upgrades. Calverton has the highest crime rate in the county as well as a severe speeding problem. Nancy Navarro, who represents the area on the county council, hopes the upgrades will help address both shortcomings.

"Can we slow down the flow of traffic?" she asks. "Also for police officers, if you come in here with intentions to commit a crime or something, this is a way to slow you down."

Slowing traffic down will be three "refuge islands" along Castle Boulevard, which cuts through several major apartment complexes before it runs into Briggs-Chaney Road. County executive Isiah Leggett says the road will be split into five different sections while remaining a two-lane street.

"We're narrowing the road and putting in what we call refuge islands and places where buses can pick people up with them going into the road," says Legett. Leggett adds in the past three years, pedestrian-car collisions have fallen 18 percent throughout the county.

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