Day laborers and the drivers who stop to hire them along a major roadway in Gaithersburg might be subject to arrest, prison time and a fine if a proposed amendment before the City Council becomes law.
Gaithersburg’s city manager said Tuesday that the measure to ban solicitation between drivers and pedestrians near the roadway doesn’t specifically target day laborers but would help alleviate traffic hazards in an area once destined to have a county-run employment center.
“Clearly it would put the solicitation at 17 N. Frederick Ave. out of business,” Dave Humpton told The Examiner. “The county has not told the day laborers they can stand there alongside the property. But that’s what they’re doing,”
It is illegal for pedestrians standing in the median to solicit drivers in vehicles, Humpton said. The new measure would ban offers of employment between pedestrians and drivers as well as requests for donations of material goods or money.
The legislation says pedestrians approaching cars take drivers’ attention away from potential road hazards and traffic signs as well as endanger the safety of those on foot.
Gaithersburg Police Chief Mary Ann Viverette said the city already has seen traffic problems in several areas because of pedestrians stepping into the roadway as well as motorists stopping suddenly to pick up a day laborer. At the 17 N. Frederick Ave. location, traffic can back up onto and over a nearby bridge over railroad tracks, Viverette said.
Officers deterred some people by telling them to get out of the roadway, Viverette said, but it hasn’t solved all of the problems.
“Recently, as a result of the gatherings at 17, we’ve had a couple of accidents on the bridges,” she said.
Public comment on the issue closes Dec. 20 and the City Council is expected to consider the proposal in early January. The 17 N. Frederick Ave. issue has been contentious between the city and the county, with officials trading correspondence in recent weeks over its fate.
The county’s chief administrative officer called the city’s decision to revoke its support for an employment center at the site “unfortunate.”
“It appears the city is attempting to wash its hands of this issue,” wrote Bruce Romer in a Nov. 13 letter to Humpton, “and push the day laborers outside of city borders.”
