Improving Safety around the West Hyattsville Metro Station

Abstract

The West Hyattsville Metro Station in Prince George’s County, Maryland, is a crucial piece of transportation infrastructure that allows those who live in the Mount Rainier area to access jobs and resources across the region. However, the area around the station is prone to collisions between cars and pedestrians and cyclists and is in a somewhat crime-ridden area. This can make safely accessing and using this vital infrastructure difficult for people who live in the surrounding community. Our group used a mixed-methodology approach to uncover the problems around the station and best practices to remedy them. Academic articles, reports, maps, interviews, and site visits revealed the area’s problems and possible solutions. We found insufficient cycling infrastructure, missing pedestrian infrastructure, and an environment that doesn’t protect against crime. To increase safety and access to the West Hyattsville Metro Station for the surrounding community, we recommend: HAWK crossing signals, lane reductions, street art, median refuge islands, crosswalks, and sidewalks to increase pedestrian safety cycle tracks, protected intersections, and speed limit reductions on various roads to increase cyclist safety lighting and security cameras on surrounding trails developing WMATA’s lots and eliminating negative land use features through redevelopment. Our recommendations don’t reflect financial considerations. Instead, we created a set of recommendations that attempt to maximize safety based on current best practices. Additionally, we did not account for how the recommendations would impact traffic flow, which would require different data and expertise.