PGA Tour: Golf's Newest Hazard—Traffic Near Congressional

Along with the 2013 AT&T National golf tournament, which started Thursday at Bethesda’s Congressional Country Club on River Road, comes a lot of traffic, as spectators flock to the course to watch the pros play the rounds.

While the two parking lots for spectators are not in the immediate vicinity of the course (spectators may drive to the lots and take shuttle buses from the lots to the tournament), there is still plenty of traffic in the area, as spectators are dropped off at the tournament entrance on Persimmon Tree Lane, shuttle buses take spectators from the parking lots and from public bus stops to the entrance, and spectators drive along River Road in search of private residences renting out lawn or driveway spaces for parking. 

Bicyclists also bike to the entrance, and some spectators like to walk from the public bus stops at River Road and Bradley Boulevard (the T2 bus from Friendship Heights and Rockville) and on Bradley Boulevard at the Connelly School of the Holy Child (Ride On bus No. 36) to the tournament. (Read more about how to get to the tournament via public transportation on Patch.)

Altogether, it’s a lot of traffic—vehicular and pedestrian.

To help with the situation, according to the Montgomery County Division of Traffic, Engineering and Operations:

• Persimmon Tree Lane, where the entrance to the tournament is, will be a one-way road Thursday through Sunday. (Note that the main entrance to Congressional Country Club, on River Road, is not the entrance to the tournament—the entrance to the tournament is on Persimmon Tree Lane.)
• Turning left and westbound from River Road to Bradley Boulevard may not be allowed at times to facilitate traffic flow around Congressional on Thursday through Sunday.
• And in Gaithersburg, near the tournament parking lot at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair Grounds, northbound lanes of Perry Parkway are closed from near the railroad tracks to the entrance of the fairgrounds on Thursday and Friday. Shuttle buses may come in through the closure, but spectators should drive into the fairgrounds from Route 355.

The Montgomery County Police Department is assigning 34 police officers to control traffic during the tournament, according to the county public information office.

And, there’ll be 16 crossing guards assigned to the area around the tournament Thursday through Saturday, with that number increasing to 20 guards on Sunday, the last day of the tournament and the day of the awards ceremony.

Plus, eight police officers are assigned to the Montgomery County Agricultural Fairgrounds parking lot in Gaithersburg, the public information office added.

For those of us not going to the tournament but still using River Road to get to work, get the groceries and do other non-tournament-related activities, take note: The county will be adjusting traffic signal timings in the area, as needed, based on current traffic conditions, according to the department of traffic, engineering and operations.