Montgomery County lowers speed limits on dozens of roads. Here’s where

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — Drivers across Montgomery County will begin seeing lower speed limits on dozens of neighborhood streets and several major corridors as county leaders expand their Vision Zero effort to reduce serious and fatal crashes.

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) announced Monday that it has lowered speed limits on 33 roads since July 2025, most of them in residential neighborhoods. Since 2021, the county has reduced speed limits on more than 250 neighborhood streets following the passage of Maryland House Bill 562, which allows local governments to lower neighborhood speed limits to 20 mph, and in limited cases, 15 mph.

County officials said the changes are designed to make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, particularly during the summer months when more children are outside.

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According to the Maryland Highway Safety Office, a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling 30 mph faces about a 40% chance of suffering a serious or fatal injury. At 20 mph, that risk drops to 10%, according to county officials.

“The one thing that we know leads to serious injuries and fatalities is the speed at the time of the crash. So when a pedestrian is struck at around 40 mph, they have about a 50-50 chance of surviving. You drop it down just 20 miles an hour, that risk of serious injury or death goes down to under 10%. So that’s why we are setting those speed limit on those areas usually around 35 or less,” said Wade Holland, the coordinator for Vision Zero in the county.

In addition to lowering posted speed limits, Montgomery County said it is continuing to install traffic-calming measures such as speed humps, curb extensions and pedestrian refuge islands. Officials said streets with those improvements have seen pedestrian crashes decline by 44%.

Many of the speed limit changes were made after requests from residents, with additional reductions expected in the coming months.

Residents can request a traffic engineering study for their neighborhood through MCDOT.

Roads with newly reduced speed limits:

Bethesda

• Alta Vista Road
• Elsmere Avenue
• Charles Street
• Spruce Tree Avenue
• Briley Place
• Massachusetts Avenue
• Forest Road
• Beech Avenue
• Glenwood Road
• Locust Hill Road
• Madawaska Road
• Wissioming Road
• Sangamore Road
• Michaels Drive
• Sonoma Road
• Hempstead Avenue
• Oneida Lane
• Strathmore Street public alley

Clarksburg

• Ascot Square Court
• Top Ridge Drive

Colesville

• Eastbourne Drive

Gaithersburg

• Airpark Road
• Central Avenue

North Bethesda

• Clue Drive

North Kensington

• Spruell Drive

North Potomac

• Paramus Drive

Potomac

• Appalachian Terrace
• Maxwell Drive

Rockville

• Montrose Road

Silver Spring

• Indian Spring Drive
• Red Oak Drive
• Saint Lawrence Drive
• Woodland Drive

South Kensington

• Drumm Avenue

Wheaton/Glenmont

• Church Lane
• King Tree Street
• Newport Mill Road
• Paul Drive
• Pendleton Drive

Major roads also seeing lower speed limits:

The county and the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration are also reducing speed limits on several larger roadways:

• Darnestown Road: Key West Avenue (MD 28) to West Montgomery Avenue (MD 28) — 35 mph
• Great Seneca Highway: MD 28 to Darnestown Road — 35 mph
• Josiah Henson Parkway/Montrose Road: MD 187 to Tower Oaks Boulevard — 35 mph
• Josiah Henson Parkway: Towne Road to Montrose Road — 35 mph
• 13th Street (Silver Spring): Eastern Avenue NW to Georgia Avenue (MD 97/MD 29) — 25 mph

County officials said new speed limit signs on those corridors are expected to be installed by the end of August.

For a complete interactive map of impacted roads and additional information, visit Montgomery County’s MCDOT speed limit reduction page.