Workers are already tearing up parts of the shuttered block of Ridgefield Road between River Road and Westbard Avenue in Bethesda. The section of the road will be closed for 16 months, and technically will never reopen, as it will be replaced by a realigned Westbard Avenue that will connnect directly to River at the same intersection. Heavy equipment was digging up utilities under the street Monday afternoon.
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| Westbard Avenue completely barricaded at River Road, blocking any use by emergency vehicles |
Another unexpected development is that the block of Westbard Avenue between River Road and Ridgefield has been closed and barricaded to traffic. This presents two problems for the community. First, all cut-through traffic will now be dumped onto Springfield Drive and the upper blocks of Ridgefield to travel to and from Westbard. There was an above-average use of that route by trucks, in particular, yesterday during several periods of observation; commuter cut-throughs will likely increase starting today, as most drivers were encountering the closure of Ridgefield for the first time on Monday, without any chance to plan an unofficial detour.
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| Westbard Avenue as seen from behind the barricade at River Road |
Second, the barricaded end of Westbard at River blocks any use by emergency vehicles, requiring lengthy detours by police or fire equipment to Springfield, Little Falls Parkway or Goldsboro Road. This makes a dangerous situation of the Ridgefield closure even more fraught if there is a major fire at one of the high-rises on Westbard, or a medical emergency. I find it hard to believe that Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services signed off on a simultaneous closure of Westbard and Ridgefield at River Road during the Development Review Committee process. In fact, one of the conditions for the eventual permanent closure of Westbard at River in the 2016 Westbard sector plan was a mountable curb, so that fire trucks could still enter there during emergencies.
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| Looking east on River Road from the Westbard barricade |
Sixteen months is a long time. The Montgomery County Council and Department of Transportation are making a hell of a gamble that no emergency will transpire in the Westbard area during all of that time. Of course, none of them live in this area, so it's little wonder they aren't that concerned.
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| Ridgefield Road barricade at Westbard |
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| Heavy equipment digging up utilities under the closed section of Ridgefield Monday afternoon |
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| One of many shuttered Ride On 23 bus stops in the Westbard area |
Is Little Falls Pkwy going to remain closed for walkers on weekends? That would be a short cut
ReplyDeleteto get to Giant for those living in Chevy Chase. However if LFP remains closed for weekend walkers Giant will lose business.
Thanks for keeping everyone up to date Robert.
Another example of how our MoCo Govt is trying to strangle car traffic in Bethesda. I tried to find out out from Friedson and others for over a month what detours would be put in place - I got stonewalled and passed off. They don’t care. Try to get through Woodmont Ave or Bethesda Ave during rush hour - good luck!
ReplyDeleteI live on the street, and the neighbors are really happy that the street closed, and I think it will be permanent. Drivers these days are crazy.
ReplyDeleteOn the first day, they mistakenly closed the lane driving onto Westbard and not the lane of Westbard going onto River..so naturally drivers thought they could just use that lane turning onto Westbard which would have caused head on collisions.
The next day, there was a policeman giving out tickets for a short time, and he commented how he has never seen anything like this.
A woman later in the day, literally moved one of the barriers to get out and threw an attitude about it and drove off. (they then pinned them down more afterwards so no one can move them). I wish I had gotten a video of that.
It is humorous to see people ignoring the "ROAD CLOSED to through Traffic" sign when entering Westbard from Westbard/Ridgefield and just find out they have to turn around at the end of the block and go back. This just adds more time on their already rushed schedules!
It's sad to see how people act in this area these days.. what happened? I do feel for the neighbors on Ridgefield though, but I am sure neighbors there will do something about that.
Westbard Ave is a public road paid for by the public and should be open for use by the public - we need more traffic flow options during construction which means Westbard should be open to two-way traffic during construction. Why should Ridgefield Rd residents bear the brunt of the traffic while Westbard Ave residents are protected? When the county closed Leland Street in downtown Bethesda to protect the residents on that street, they were forced to walk back the closure later when other area neighbors pointed out that a public street is not your private driveway.
ReplyDeleteTo the person who wrote “I live on the street and the neighbors are happy the road is closed”
ReplyDeleteReally , you bought a home on a cut through to a shopping center and you want to stop traffic? You are worst case example of NIMBY.
You feel sorry for those on Ridgefield? What will MoCo do? Shut that road down too?
Let’s shut all the roads down.
"Another example of how our MoCo Govt is trying to strangle car traffic in Bethesda."
ReplyDelete"Let’s shut all the roads down."
That's exactly what these Marxist Leftists want - they want you walking everywhere.
The car represents Freedom, and you can't have that.