This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Accident by Design

ACCIDENTS BY DESIGN  Diamondback Drive, Sam Eig Highway, and Crown development, Gaithersburg
I have a concern about the intersection on the southeastern end of Diamondback Drive in Gaithersburg MD, specifically regarding the driveways constructed by the Crown Farm Project (http://www.gaithersburgmd.gov/poi/default.asp?POI_ID=1556).
Diamondback Drive runs from Muddy Branch Road at its northwestern end to the Sam Eig Highway (Rt. 370) at its southeastern end where it has had a “T” intersection.
Southeast across from Diamondback’s intersection with Sam Eig there is a new complex going up with residential, business, and commercial development, the Crown Farm project.
My concern involves the driveway in to and out of this new development, which is positioned at the end of Diamondback directly across the intersection at Sam Eig. The design of the complex’s driveways funnels drivers away from Diamondback access and access to Diamondback, which means access to the Muddy Branch Shopping Center, NIST, innumerable business, residential areas, and other roads is blocked as well.
Here is how the driveways are set up in relation to Diamondback Drive (see attached infographic GoogleMap with my edits), and the problems as I see them due to the funneling of traffic away from Diamondback:
::  Drivers exiting Crown and wanting to go to Muddy Branch will take the short northward driveway and turn left to cut across the intersection against traffic no matter what islands block their path …
::  … or go up to the intersection at Fields Road and make a U turn (that intersection is already so poorly designed that adding this stress to it is going to cause accidents) to come back
::  Drivers on Diamondback who want to enter the Crown complex will attempt equally dangerous actions, like turning into the short northward drive
::  Ensuing traffic tie-ups will impact a wide area around this intersection.
This design will inconvenience Crown patrons and all Gaithersburg residents in this location, and will cause dangerous actions and accidents that will affect pedestrians as well as drivers. It is an offensive action on the part of planners and designers.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?