Vision Zero Rockville logo with large text and a walking pedestrian icon inside the letter "O," plus a black and yellow striped bar.

The Vision Zero Action Plan, adopted in July 2020, is a priority initiative of the Mayor and Council to create safe and livable neighborhoods.

First introduced in Sweden in 1997 as a countrywide response to increasing traffic fatalities and serious injuries, the concept of the initiative is to make the health and safety of humans the top priority in road network design.

The Mayor and Council resolution “endorses Vision Zero as a comprehensive and holistic approach” to achieving the goal. It calls for guidelines that “identify a combination of equitable engineering, enforcement, education and evaluation, along with associated funding needed for the city to reach the goal toward zero deaths and serious injuries by 2030.”

Get Involved with Vision Zero

What’s your vision? Help us better understand your transportation, pedestrian and bicycle safety experience in Rockville by completing an online survey.

Experienced a ‘near miss’? A near-miss incident is an event where a person driving, walking, rolling, bicycle, or traveling by another means must suddenly stop, swerve or move to avoid a crash. Because these incidents are not formally reported in the same manner as traffic crashes, they can be difficult to track. However, near-miss incidents can still influence a person’s travel behavior and perception of traffic safety. 

If you’ve experienced a near miss, please take a moment to fill out the survey below. This information will be collected and evaluated alongside crash reports for the annual Vision Zero Crash Analysis. For assistance completing the survey, contact the Public Works Department at 240-314-8527 or at bbwoods@rockvillemd.gov.

If your community group would like to learn more about Vision Zero, please contact the Public Works Department at transportationinquiry@rockvillemd.gov to arrange for city staff to present at a regularly scheduled community meeting.

Vision Zero is a multimodal transportation safety program and seeks to improve safety for all modes of transportation. Residents and visitors are encouraged to walk and roll, bicycle, and drive safely and be respectful of all other roadway users.  

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation carries out a countywide Safe Routes to School program with Montgomery County Public Schools, which includes schools in Rockville. The county’s Safe Routes to School website provides details about hosting safe walking, rolling and bicycling events to help students and their families learn the basics of safe travel to and from school. Events such as Walking WednesdaysBike Rodeos, and Pedestrian Safety Art Contests provide an opportunity for students to interactively participate and learn about safe walking, rolling, and bicycling habits.

Additionally, parents and community members interested in improving child pedestrian safety can find education resources, including a curriculum on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.  

Post-Crash Inspections

After a fatal crash in Rockville, the Montgomery County Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) manages the crash investigation and prepares the CRU crash report. Unlike property damage or minor injury crashes, this process can take several weeks to complete. While the CRU prepares its report, the city conducts a Vision Zero Post-Crash Inspection.

The Public Works Department inspects the roadway pavement, sidewalks, curb ramps, signs, and pavement markings; confirms that the traffic signals and pedestrian signals are operating appropriately; and assesses whether the streetlights are working and whether lighting is sufficient. Additionally, the Communications and Community Engagement Department posts Vision Zero safety messages relevant to all modes of travel. Lastly, the Rockville City Police Department determines whether additional enforcement for pedestrians and motorists is necessary.

Memos of the post-crash inspection findings can be found below:

Traffic Collision Data

The Automated Crash Reporting System (ACRS) collects data from all law enforcement agencies in Montgomery County and provide details of all traffic collisions on state, county, and municipal roadways. Incident data, drivers data, and non-motorists data is provided on the Montgomery County data portal, Data Montgomery, which is updated every week. The ACRS data shared on Data Montgomery includes information on all traffic collisions that take place in the City of Rockville. Data can be accessed at the following links:

Vision Zero Projects

The City of Rockville regularly plans and carries out transportation projects to improve safety for people driving, walking, rolling, bicycling, and using transit. While projects can often take several years between conception to implementation, some of the recently completed and ongoing projects include the following:

The Mayor and Council approved the Pedestrian Master Plan on Oct. 30, 2023. The plan provides an overview of the pedestrian network and identifies policy and infrastructure improvements to address unique issues faced by people walking and rolling.

The city completed a feasibility and design study exploring bicycle facilities on Martins Lane between Mannakee Street and N. Washington Street. The Bikeway Master Plan proposes a bicycle lane on this street, and the Vision Zero Action Plan directs staff to extend the safe bicycling network. Bicycle facilities on Martins Lane will connect to the separated bicycle lanes on N. Washington Street and provide better access to the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center for families. 

It is anticipated that in the summer of 2026 bicycle lanes will be added to Martins Lane between Mannakee Street and the entrance to the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center, and shared lane markings will be added between the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center entrance and N. Washington Street. 

As part of a Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Regional Roadway Safety Program project, the city developed new guidelines to help direct staff to install crosswalks and ancillary improvements to help pedestrians cross the street in Rockville.

The crosswalk guidelines were approved by the director of the Public Works Department and are currently in use. 

The Baltimore Road Improvements project included roadway repaving and improved drainage, stream restoration, new sidewalks, and a shared use path along Baltimore Road between MD 28 (First Street/Norbeck Road) and the city limits.

The Twinbrook Safe Routes to School and Transit Accessibility Study was completed in fall 2024. This study evaluated the feasibility of constructing sidewalks along seven sidewalk gaps and identifying safety improvements at eight intersections in the Twinbrook neighborhood. The study was funded by the federal Transportation Alternatives grant and was implemented with support by the Maryland Department of Transportation.

The completed reports for each sidewalk gap and intersection are available below. City staff has reviewed the findings from each of the reports and has advanced three sidewalks to design, and three intersections to design and construction for this year. The remaining sidewalks and intersections will be reviewed and implemented in a future fiscal year.

Additional questions about the study can be emailed to Bryan Barnett-Woods, project manager, at bbwoods@rockvillemd.gov.

Sidewalks

Sidewalks deemed feasible and will advance to construction in FY26:

Sidewalks deemed feasible and will advance in a future fiscal year:

Sidewalks deemed infeasible and will be reevaluated after all other city sidewalk gaps are studied:

Intersections

Intersection improvements to advance and implement:

Intersection improvements to advance and implement in a future fiscal year:

Intersection improvements that require additional evaluation and study:

The city recently evaluated complete streets improvements for Congressional Lane, between Rollins Avenue and Rockville Pike (MD 355). Complete streets improvements include traffic calming measures to reduce motor vehicle speeds, bicycle lanes and pedestrian facilities. This project was fully funded by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments through the Transportation Land Use Connections Program. The Public Works Department will consider the findings and public input from this study as this project advances toward the design and implementation phases.

The city is currently evaluating three bicycle facility alternatives and soliciting public comments for roadway improvements along East Jefferson Street between Rollins Avenue and Congressional Lane, and along Halpine Road between East Jefferson Street and Rockville Pike. This study and design project is funded through a Kim Lamphier Maryland Bikeways Network grant.

A virtual public meeting to discuss the three alternatives and to receive comments and questions was held on April 30, 2025. The study is expected to be completed in Fall 2025. 

The City of Rockville recently completed a feasibility study for designing and constructing a shared use path along Scott Drive and Veirs Drive between the city boundary and Wootton Parkway, with a connection to the Carl Henn Millennium Trail. This shared use path will be one component of a Bikeway Master Plan “Crosstown Route.”

The city is currently planning to carry out a demonstration project along Redland Boulevard between Gaither Road and Elmcroft Boulevard. The demonstration project will repurpose the outer travel lanes as 24-hour parking lanes, temporarily transforming Redland Boulevard into a two-lane roadway. This project is a demonstration only and will be implemented for six weeks. It is expected that this project will help calm motor vehicle traffic speeds, increase comfort for people walking, rolling, and bicycling on, and across, Redland Boulevard, and increase the amount of on-street parking spaces in the neighborhood.

A virtual public meeting was held on June 10, 2025, to introduce the project and solicit comments and suggestions from the community. Residents or other interested stakeholders can submit comments to the project manager, Bryan Barnett-Woods, at bbwoods@rockvillemd.gov

The city completed a feasibility study to evaluate complete streets improvements for Mannakee Street between Hungerford Drive (MD 355) and West Montgomery Avenue (MD 28). A virtual public meeting to discuss roadway improvement alternatives was held on April 9, 2024. 

The city evaluated opportunities to create Complete Streets along Fleet Street between Maryland Avenue and Richard Montgomery High School and along Monroe Street between Fleet Street and East Middle Lane. Complete Streets are streets that provide facilities for motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users so that everyone may travel safely. Potential improvements for these streets may include separated bicycle lanes, shared use paths, and signalization changes. 

A virtual public meeting was held on May 4, 2023 to discuss the findings of this study and allow for residents and stakeholders to provide input, ask questions, or raise questions with city staff.

Shared Roadways are designated low-volume and low-speed roads where motor vehicle and bicycle traffic may share the same roadway space. The Bikeway Master Plan includes recommendations for 36 different roadway segments to be designated as Shared Roadways. Please contact Daniel Seo for questions at dseo@rockvillemd.gov.

Sidewalk gaps are evaluated for feasibility according to the city’s Sidewalk Prioritization Policy. Staff are evaluating the following five sidewalk gaps:

  • Carr Avenue between Forest Avenue and Luckett Street
  • Charles Street between McArthur Drive and the road terminus
  • Croydon Avenue between Park Road and McArthur Drive
  • Gail Avenue between Lewis Avenue and Veirs Mill Road
  • Woodland Road between Virginia Avenue and North Horners Lane

The studies are evaluating the feasibility of constructing sidewalks only. This project does not include construction. Before any advances toward further design or construction, city staff will provide opportunities to discuss sidewalk projects with residents, nearby property owners or other interested groups. 

Two key action items in the Vision Zero Action Plan are related to improving intersections and crossings throughout the City of Rockville. The city has carried out intersection safety audits at five intersections in the city and evaluated traffic patterns; pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle counts; crash history; and the existing intersection geometry. The second round of intersections to be studied include:

  • E. Gude Drive and Rothgeb Drive
  • Rollins Avenue and E. Jefferson Street
  • W. Gude Drive and Gaither Road
  • W. Gude Drive and Piccard Drive
  • W. Gude Drive and Research Boulevard

The first round of intersection safety audits has been completed and the city has begun constructing the proposed improvements. Should you have any questions or comments about the other intersections, please feel free to email the project manager, Daniel Seo, at dseo@rockvillemd.gov.

A leading pedestrian interval (LPI) is an advance WALK signal displayed for the crosswalk while red indications continue to be displayed to parallel through and/or turning traffic. The LPI is used to reduce conflicts between pedestrians and turning vehicles at intersections with high pedestrian volumes and high conflicting turning vehicle volumes. City staff implemented LPIs at the following intersections in Town Center:

  • Baltimore Rd and Twinbrook Pkwy: LPI for all crossings
  • E. Middle Ln/Maryland Ave: LPI to cross E. Middle Ln
  • MD 28/Monroe St: LPI to cross MD 28
  • MD 28/Maryland Ave: LPI to cross MD 28
  • MD 28/Washington St: LPI to cross MD 28
  • N. Washington St/E. Montgomery Ave/Courthouse Sq: LPI to cross N. Washington St
  • N. Washington St/Middle Ln: LPI to cross N. Washington St
  • N. Washington/Beall Ave: LPI to cross N. Washington St
  • Park Rd/Metro Station Entrance: LPI to cross Park Rd
  • Park Rd/N. Stonestreet Ave: LPI for all crossings
  • Twinbrook Pkwy/Chapman Ave: LPI to cross Twinbrook Pkwy
  • Wootton Pkwy/Greenplace Ter: LPI for all crossings
  • Wootton Pkwy/Wootton High School Entrance: LPI to cross Wootton Pkwy

The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) is responsible for planning, designing, and constructing, and maintaining roadway projects on state-maintained roadways and rights-of-way. State-maintained roadways are designated by a number as well as a name, for instance, Rockville Pike, Hungerford Drive, and Frederick Road are all part of MD 355. 

Veirs Mill Road & Atlantic Avenue Intersection Improvements

In fall of 2022, MDOT SHA installed hardened centerlines, flex-post curb extensions, signal back plates, and refreshed pavements markings at this intersection to help discourage motorists from using the right-turn lanes as through lanes, and to improve pedestrian safety. 

Americans with Disability Act Sidewalk Improvements

There are two roadway segments along MD 355 in which ADA improvements, including rebuilding sidewalks and curb ramps will occur. The first segment is on MD 355 from Edmonston Drive to First Street, and the second segment is on MD 355 from Monroe Place to MD 28. These projects are planned to be advertised this coming fiscal year. Once plans and review meetings are completed, and permits secured, these projects will move forward to construction.