Bethesda drivers queued up for fuel Wednesday as the Colonial Pipeline crisis hit Montgomery County. Media reports fueled panic that led to long lines at most gas stations across the county.
At the Liberty station at the Bradley Shopping Center, some pumps were out of higher grades of fuel Wednesday afternoon. By last night, the Exxon at Wisconsin Avenue and Battery Lane had run dry. Cars had lined up down Battery Lane there earlier in the day. Prices at the Exxon surged over $3 and $4, depending which grade of gas you were purchasing. Some pumps were "bagged" at Sunoco on River Road by late evening.
The pipeline is reportedly coming back online, but it is expected to take several days to resupply all of the affected gas stations across the mid-Atlantic and southeastern United States. This crisis has again brought attention to the dwindling number of gas stations in Bethesda. There are only four left downtown.
It's hard to overstate how dumb humans are.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely ridiculous. Panic = no gas.
ReplyDeleteHang on, I thought the big draw of Bethesda was its "walkability." Do these gas lines mean all those people crammed into the apartment buildings need to use cars after all, that the crushing population explosion in this "urban center" isn't the beau ideal of a new, green way of life, where all the "amenities" are but a swift trot down the block?
ReplyDeleteKnock me over with a feather.
Why would you think people in apartments are the ones waiting in line at gas stations? That's a really weird assumption. And, yes, amenities are "down the block." Visit sometime.
DeleteI can think of three gas stations in downtown Bethesda proper. The two Liberty stations on Arlington Road and Bradley, and the former Sunoco (Now Exxon with the car wash) across from Harris Teeter on Wisconsin. Are you counting the gas stations on River Road? WHich one am I missing? Would like to know so I have another place to buy gas.
ReplyDelete9:48: The fourth is on Old Georgetown at Auburn Avenue.
ReplyDelete@09:48 AM -- My assumption is based on the idea that those who don't live in the area's apartment blocks know a whole galaxy of gas stations, not just those located around the corner in "downtown" Bethesda, (where prices are appreciably higher.)
ReplyDeleteThe four gas stations in downtown Bethesda don't serve downtown Bethesda alone. They serve the entire area between the next-nearest stations in Westbard, Montgomery Mall/Wildwood, White Flint, Kensington, Chevy Chase Lake and Friendship Heights. That's a huge area, and most of it is SFH-suburban.
ReplyDelete