Council Approves Electric Leaf Blower Lanes
After a proposed exemption for landscapers to Montgomery County’s gas-powered leaf blower ban was killed this week, the County Council agreed to a concession they say improves landscaper productivity, worker safety, and county-wide beautification.
The county will install dedicated electric leaf blower lanes alongside existing bike lanes, giving commercial landscapers and homeowners on busy roads the close-up access to sidewalk and curb debris now required for effective removal.
"An electric blower held inches from the leaves is just as effective as a gas-powered unit blowing from 10 feet, and this allowance provides the means to achieve blower parity without making exceptions," said lead sponsor Councilmember Evan Glass.
Under the new rules, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation is "directed to widen all current protected bike lanes sufficiently for retrofit with a second lane specifically for landscaping crews operating electric leaf blowers."
Cyclists will continue using the right side of the lane, while the left will be reserved for people carrying battery-powered blowers, often walking backward in a zigzag. Yellow dashed lines and stenciled silhouettes of workers with blowers will mark lane usage.
The plan was unanimously approved after a motion to bypass public comment. "Why waste time when we know how much residents love bike lanes, clean sidewalks, and battery-powered lawn equipment?" Council President Kate Stewart asked rhetorically.
Cyclists Object
The University Boulevard Bicyclist Bureau issued a fiery press release denouncing the Council’s decision. "Sharing lanes with slow-moving, wind-wielding operatives presents a clear and present danger to Montgomery County cyclists. There won't be enough beat-up Schwinns for all the ghost bikes coming," said Bureau Chair Haro Kuwahara.
“Look, I support labor,” said Olney resident and triathlon enthusiast Roger Drummey, “but it’s hard to maintain my average speed when I keep drafting behind a guy making leaf tornadoes at three miles per hour.”
County Executive Mark Elrich pushed back. "A public awareness campaign, Share the Air, will encourage cyclists and blower users to respect each other’s lanes and wind velocity," he said.
The leaf blower lane rollout will begin in Takoma Park and expand outward as the county converts its airless paint sprayers for stenciling silhouettes onto pavement to less oxygen-depleting solar-powered units. Lane retrofits will be complete county-wide by 2037.
