BETHESDA, Md. — A Montgomery County councilmember hoped the death of an 18-year-old bicyclist years ago would prompt a necessary overhaul to road and safety conditions. However, not only has progress been slow, but another teen cyclist is now dead.
Police in Montgomery County identified the bicyclist killed after a collision on Old Georgetown Road near Cheshire Drive in Bethesda on Wednesday as 18-year-old Enzo Alvarenga.
Investigators said Alvarenga left the sidewalk for unknown reasons and collided with a van.
In July 2019, 17-year-old Jacob Cassell died after he was hit and killed while riding his bike at the intersection of Old Georgetown Road and Beech Avenue, just about a mile away from the most recent incident.
Designated bike lanes were painted to help act as a buffer but they stopped short of where Alvarenga died.
"Every time somebody dies on the roadway is a policy failure," Councilmember Andrew Friedson told WUSA9. "Every fatality of a pedestrian or every fatality of a bicyclist is an engineering failure."
Cassell’s father released a statement that detailed his reaction and thoughts on lack of safety improvements since his son's death:
“On behalf of my family, I want to express how sick and heartbroken we are over Wednesday’s tragic death of Enzo Alvarenga on Old Georgetown Road. Our hearts ache for his family and over his lost potential and future. Unfortunately, we are not surprised that another life has been lost on Old Georgetown, nor is anyone who lives in the surrounding communities.
"We all knew that the half measures taken in response to our son’s death in 2019 were half-hearted window dressing that did not address the extremely dangerous conditions along Old Georgetown Road. Until the State and County get serious and re-engineer the entire length of the road from downtown Bethesda to Pike and Rose, more lives will be lost to tragic and completely avoidable accidents.
"Sidewalks need to be widened, buffers installed and lanes removed to solve this problem and save lives going forward. The question is how many more children and members of our community have to lose their lives before serious action is taken.”
The stretch of Old Georgetown Road just south of Wildwood Shopping Center is identified as one of the most dangerous corridors, according to a recent Comprehensive Needs Analysis.
There was already a meeting scheduled next Friday with state highway officials to address safety needs along Old Georgetown Road.
"We are not making nearly as much progress we need to make sure our roadways are safe," Friedson added. "Until we get to the point we reengineered our roadways to be safe, we're going to continue to have tragedies."
Richard Hoye, an advocate and former firefighter, stressed the need to lower speed limits and add buffers to separate the sidewalk from the road.
"I take speed measurements with my radar in order to evaluate the actual speed of traffic on the section of road that I'm traveling on," Hoye said. "The roadway can be redesigned to communicate to drivers a slower speed is a safe and appropriate speed to travel at."
This is the second bicyclist killed this year, according to Action Committee for Transit. The same group reported eight pedestrians and bicyclists have been killed in three square miles of Bethesda in less than four years.