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Site Description (airphoto map at bottom of page)

This Ward 3 intersection was once a six way intersection, with Adelphi Road continuing through on 41st Avenue into Hyattsville, and Queens Chapel continuing into University Park. The 41st Avenue leg was closed before 1977 and the University Park leg of Queens Chapel was closed during metro rail construction and never re-opened. This intersection is now a large, high traffic intersection for three major roads - Queens Chapel, MD 410 (East-West Highway), and Adelphi Rd. 41st Avenue was closed with metal barriers at the intersection, while Queens Chapel in University Park was closed to all but emergency vehicles which can enter the city by way of special pavers.


Queens Chapel on the north side of the intersection (in University Park) also comes to a dead-end and has a mostly grassy strip with sidewalks leading to the intersection.

During rush hour, all roads are significantly backed up. These roads have two or three through lanes plus turning lanes and each has at least one median. On Queens Chapel turning east on 410, 410 turning south on Queens Chapel, and Adelphi turning West on 410, there are yield/merge lanes with triangular medians to keep traffic flowing. A traffic surveillance camera appears to monitor Route 410.

Crosswalks are generally well-marked, and crosswalk signals (while slow) are in existence on all sides. There is a pedestrian call-button to cross 410 but one must cross through the high speed dedicated turn lane to get to a triangular median in order to reach a call-button. There are sidewalks on all sides, but some are very narrow and all lack a buffer between the fast-merging traffic and the narrow sidewalk. The sidewalk on the northwest side of 410 ends shortly after the intersection, despite an ample shoulder. Construction fencing blocks the shoulder for about 200 meters leading towards Prince George's Plaza. After construction is complete there will be a wide pedestrian sidewalk with trees and landscaping along East West Highway fronting the University Town Center development.

Sidewalks are largely free of impediments, however it is hard to see the traffic coming from 410 and turning right onto Adelphi while one is crossing from east to west - telephone poles obstruct the view when you're actually at the cross-walk. Despite the sidewalks and crosswalk signals, we observed several instances of jay-walking and people using muddy paths instead of sidewalks.

Direct pedestrian/ bike access onto 41st Avenue in Hyattsville is obstructed by the guard rail, misaligned curb cutout, lack of sidewalk, and a superfluous street sign .



Bike lanes/shoulders are present on some parts of the intersection, but not all. Queens Chapel northbound, for example, has a bike lane that ends at Quintana, one street before the intersection, leaving bikers to merge into traffic as they head downhill.

Several of the merge lanes have wide shoulders that could handle a bike lane, but they also have drains and grates that would be hazardous for cyclists.

This intersection is near several churches, a library, and a community center. Planned development near the intersection will bring a movie theater, shops, and several more attractions for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor traffic.

41st Avenue has unattractive metal barriers and there are often several parked cars present, as well as a very wide concrete cul de sac. Pedestrians have worn muddy paths around the barriers, indicating that it is used as a route to get into and out of Hyattsville. 41st Avenue, while very wide, does not have any sidewalks on either side until the intersection with Queensbury.

Recommendations

• Make 41st Ave a convenient north-south bicycle and pedestrian gateway to Hyattsville that links to 40th Avenue, leading pedestrian and bicycle traffic on a relatively flat route to Magruder Park:
  
  • Remove the unsightly metal guard rails and plant a band of green space along the area currently occupied by the rail.
    
  • Create a wide green space between the end of 41st and the intersection
  • Install a wide welcoming bike-pedestrian walkway across the green space onto 41st Avenue with clear bike/pedestrian signage. Building something similar to the University Park side of the intersection would create a safe pathway, and nice signage welcoming people to Hyattsville would be positive publicity for the city.
• Create a sidewalk on the the east side of 41st Avenue to channel pedestrian traffic and while still allowing people to park their cars on the street.
• Create safe bike lanes on all roads through the intersection.
• Widen sidewalks and/or establish a "buffer" of grass between the road and the sidewalk to increase pedestrian safety. Fast-moving traffic, especially on the merge/turn lanes, leaves sidewalk users feeling vulnerable, and several sidewalks are overgrown.
• Add crosswalk call buttons for all crosswalks, not just 410 and place the call buttons where pedestrians can actually reach them. They should be located ...
• Extend the sidewalk on the north side of East West Highway all the way from Adelphi to Belcrest - spacious sidewalks and bike lanes will facilitate access to shops, restaurants, and stores planned for the area.
• Improve signage so that cars know to yield to crosswalk traffic in the merge lanes
• Additional signagecould direct bicyclists/pedestrians to other major trails such as the Northwest Branch, the Trolley trail, the East Coast Greenway, and the American Discovery Trail, making this proposed north-south bike and pedestrian boulevard an arterial connection to other parks and trails in addition to Magruder Park.
  
  

Jurisdictions
Queens Chapel Rd. (Rte. 500) - Maryland State Highway Administration, "SHA"
East West Highway. (Rte. 410) - Maryland State Highway Administration, "SHA"
Adelphi Rd. - County Road [verified by Hyattsville Department of Public Works]
Wards - This intersection lies in Hyattsville Ward 3

History
Queens Chapel Road was recently three lanes wide on each side, but was narrowed to two lanes a few years ago in order to slow traffic, provide a wider median to protect left turning cross traffic, and facilitate bike lanes. Bike lanes were painted in several places, but not uniformly for the whole stretch of the road. Neighbors remember this intersection being improved by realigning the roads to decrease the amount of turn required when proceeding from Adelphi onto Queens Chapel, within the last 10 years after several accidents brought attention to its deficits.

Current Status
SHA made a presentation to the University Park town council January 22, 2007 on proposed improvements to this intersection. The very preliminary proposal called for the creation of a short additional lane on the right side of westbound East West Highway approaching the intersection to allow the second lane from the left to also turn left turn in addition to going straight. This proposal would allow a heavier volume of traffic turning left onto Queens Chapel. The right turn lane to be added would be taken only from the old right of way north of East West HIghway that was northbound Queens Chapel in University Park before that section of Queens Chapel was closed. The island just past Adelphi on the right would also be shaved to allow what is now the right turn lane westbound on East West to become a through lane. Numerous suggestions and questions were raised. No funding for this construction exists at this time.

Accidents
According to Maryland State Highway Administration, from 2001 to 2005, within 0.2 mile of intersection:

• 2001 - no police reported pedestrian or bike accidents
• 2002 - 1 injury accident
• 2003- no police reported pedestrian or bike accidents
• 2004- no police reported pedestrian or bike accidents
• 2005- no police reported pedestrian or bike accidents

At the University Park town council meeting of Jan 22, 2007 numerous people mentioned pedestrian difficulties crossing Adelphi at this intersection.