BRAC Intersection Improvements on Schedule

Utility relocation work will soon begin on Bethesda and Chevy Chase intersection improvement projects geared to ease BRAC traffic congestion, Maryland State Highway Administration officials said Tuesday evening.

The intersection improvements are part of a series of transportation projects planned near the soon-to-be Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which will officially open Sept. 15 after a portion of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center merges with Bethesda’s National Naval Medical Center.  The new facility will bring with it 2,500 more employees, nearly double the amount of yearly visitors, and a host of traffic concerns.

The move is part of the federally mandated Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.

Some of the planned transportation projects are dependant on federal funds -- $300 million has been for communities with BRAC-impacted military medical facilities. County leaders will soon begin the process of applying for the funds, but it’s still unclear how much Bethesda will receive.

At the meeting, state transportation officials updated the BRAC Implementation Committee – a group of stakeholders tasked with reviewing BRAC-related transportation projects -- on the intersection projects and a controversial new traffic light along Rockville Pike, which will begin operation Thursday.

County transportation officials also updated the group on the project that’s closed Cedar Lane Bridge for much of the summer.

The Intersections

Transportation projects are "tiered" depending on whether funding sources have been identified for them.

Four intersections around the soon-to-be Walter Reed National Military Medical Center are planned for improvements, but only three of those—Connecticut Avenue and Jones Bridge Road, Rockville Pike and Cedar Lane, and Rockville Pike and Jones Bridge Road -- are partially funded. Since portions of those projects are funded, they’re known as “Tier 1.”

A fourth project, at Old Georgetown Road and Cedar Lane, isn’t yet funded.

Tuesday, Barb Solberg of SHA told the group that the timeline for the Tier One project remains on track. Utility relocation work is expected to begin in August or September for the Connecticut Avenue and Jones Bridge Road project, and in October for the Rockville Pike and Cedar Lane project.

The Rockville Pike and Jones Bridge Road project includes installing signals to dedicate an extra southbound left-hand turn lane from Rockville Pike onto Jones Bridge Road in the afternoon peak hours. Without need to acquire right-of-way or relocate utilities, that project will jump into the final phase of construction in October and wrap up by June of 2012, according to the timetable.

With the anticipation of federal funds, unfunded portions of two of the projects will move forward, Solberg said, including road widening along Cedar Lane and Connecticut Avenue.

“There is some risk to us because those aren’t funded right now,” Solberg said.

The Rockville Pike and Cedar Lane project will need to stick to a strict construction timetable in order to stay on track for the closure of a portion of Cedar Lane in the summer of 2013 in order to build a culvert along the road, SHA officials said.

Cedar Lane Bridge

Edgar Gonzalez, of Montgomery County’s Department of Transportation, told the group that the Cedar Lane bridge is expected to re-open August 5 – several weeks ahead of schedule.

The bridge has been closed to traffic since June as crews work to replace it where Cedar Lane crosses Rock Creek. The project will also add a bikeway/pedestrian path. The bridge was classified as “structurally deficient” in 2007 and was posted for load restrictions, according to Montgomery County, and a 2008 inspection also revealed that concrete beams and piers were in poor condition.

During the closure, residents in nearby neighborhoods have complained of cut-through traffic from commuters seeking to find a way around the closed bridge.

Tuesday, residents said the headaches caused by the closure were “just the tip of the iceberg” as BRAC nears, and encouraged transportation officials to learn from the project when implementing the 2013 Cedar Lane closure.

Rockville Pike Traffic Light

Thursday will mean lights on for the new that’s been recently installed in front of Navy Med at Rockville Pike and North Wood Drive, state transportation officials said.

The light, which is intended to ease access for those entering and exiting the Naval hospital, has gotten some heat from residents who worry another light along the crowded corridor will further back up traffic.

The signal won’t impede traffic on southbound Rockville Pike, but it will stop northbound traffic with a red light to allow those coming south on the pike to make a lefthand turn into the Naval hospital. It will also allow those leaving the hospital to make a righthand turn onto the pike, though drivers leaving the hospital will not be allowed to make a lefthand turn into the southbound lanes.

Tuesday, more details emerged about the light, including the timing of the signal. Beginning this week, the light will operate from 5:30-7:30a.m., allowing a 50-second green time for those entering and exiting Navy Med.

In the afternoon, officials are looking at operating the light between 2p.m. and 4:30p.m. with a 45-second green time.

SHA has said they will carefully study traffic patterns before and after the traffic signal is installed to determine whether it will remain permanently.

For a full list of all the BRAC transportation improvement projects, check out the county’s newly re-designed BRAC website.