Bel Pre/Bonifant Road
From District 4 -- Montgomery County, Maryland
Bel Pre Road / Bonifant Road is an east-west thoroughfare not intended for the amount of traffic that it carries.
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Route
Bel Pre Road runs from its western terminus at Norbeck Road (MD-28) eastward as the northern boundary of Aspen Hill to its intersection with Georgia Avenue (MD-97) and continues eastward, crossing one of the eastern tributaries of the Turkey Branch of Rock Creek, crossing over a ridge and then descending to cross Bel Pre Creek, and then climbing to the intersection with Layhill Road. To the east of Layhill Road, it is known as Bonifant Road.
Bonifant Road continues east from Layhill Road, almost immediately descending to cross the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River and its floodplain, and then climbs towards its intersection with New Hampshire Avenue (MD-650). East of New Hampshire Avenue, it changes direction a few times and then heads to the north-northeast, and is known as Good Hope Road.
Road Type
Bel Pre Road / Bonifant Road is a Snow Emergency Route.
Throughout most of its western third, Bel Pre Road is a residential street with two traffic lanes and two parking lanes. Between Georgia Avenue and Layhill Road, Bel Pre Road is five-lane line-divided, also known as four-lane with "suicide left lanes". From just east of Layhill Road, Bonifant Road is gravel-shouldered two lane, though in some places it is three-lane line-divided, also known as "two lane with a suicide left lane". There is no on-street parking east of Georgia Avenue.
Traffic Problems
Pedestrian Hazard
Possible Solutions
Geography
Montgomery County is characterized by a large number of streams and stream-valleys, most of which are aligned north to south. Consequently, any east-west road is likely to be extremely hilly. Bel Pre Road west of Georgia Avenue is not particularly hilly. Bonifant Road east of Layhill Road has a rather tight switchback curve descending to the crossing of the Northwest Branch, but other than that is not particularly hilly.
