Brawl over Silver Spring Ghost Bike Lanes Intensifies

New Montgomery County Ghost Bike lanes have stirred up so much controversy, thousands of charged neighbors are having their say on social media.

The Ghost Bike lanes run across 1.2 miles of Veirs Mill Road in Silver Spring, between Arbutus Avenue and Randolph Road. The highway department converted one travel lane in each direction into buffered Ghost Bike lanes, leaving four travel lanes to accommodate approximately 50,000 vehicles per day.

Ghost Bikes are frequently placed as memorials at sites where bicyclists have died in crashes. The Ghost Bike lanes are part of the county’s Vision Zero initiative, whose goal is to eliminate all road deaths by 2030.

"I believe they’ve created more issues than they’ve solved," said Jacque Kerowick, one of more than 206,000 people who signed a petition demanding the Ghost Bike lanes be removed. The petition calls the lanes "gross racial disparity" and points out that "change came to Old Georgetown Road in well-heeled North Bethesda months ago."

"It’s a recipe in my opinion for a lot of hard feelings," Kerowick told The Montgonion. "It’s a recipe for division."

Transportation officials say Ghost Bikes chained to road signs and fences pose a danger by distracting drivers, drawing mourners to unprotected areas, and obstructing semi-annual mowing crews. “Our buffered Ghost Bike lanes are more respectful to the departed and provide a safe space to grieve,” said department spokesperson Fran Leary.

Now there’s a second petition, created by Willem Boros in response to the first one. "I wanted to get a lot of attention, and counter the narrative," Boros said. More than 122,000 people have signed on in support of the Ghost Bike lanes, saying the opposition just wants "to sow enough social injustice doubts that they take away speed cameras too."

"Everyone is equal in their car when they’re traveling up and down that road, but all of the other people who have to use that road are at their mercy," Boros added.

The Montgomery County Ghost Bike lanes are considered a footpath and may be passed on foot or using a mobility aid. Cycling is forbidden.

Additional Ghost Bike lanes are coming in April to a 4.3 mile stretch of Georgia Avenue from Aspen Hill to Forest Glen, and in July to a 1.3-mile span of Bel Pre Road from Connecticut Avenue to Layhill Road.