The realigned Westbard Avenue section in Bethesda looks ready to open, and there are rumors it could open as soon as today. Montgomery County's Department of Transportation has not made an official public announcement in advance, and there have been no digital signboards alerting drivers to "New Traffic Pattern" beforehand, as is standard protocol for such events. Traffic signals have not been activated, there are still Jiffy Johns in the median, and the jersey barriers are still in place on Westbard Avenue and Ridgefield Road. But as you can see here, the road has been striped, and we've got landscaping and full-blown protected bike lanes in place. If there is signal control of the "Westbard-and-Westbard" intersection, as it appears there will be, this is going to be a much safer experience for cyclists along this stretch of road.
I walked it up from River and then back down later in the day; the sidewalks are very wide, with water runoff controls and a fully separate bike lane (in addition to two traffic lanes in each direction. It is very nice! The intersection of Ridgefield and Westbard (?) has its own set of traffic lights. This should work well for pedestrians, bicyclists, cars, and trucks.
ReplyDeleteMCDOT says that the closure of lower Ridgefield and the southeastern terminus of the 5500 block of Westbard will remain in place for a little while. The idea is to let traffic patterns normalize without the confusion of cut-throughs that circumvent the new road.
ReplyDeleteI think the construction is at a point where any further delays in the opening of the road are the county's fault, not the contractor's.
ReplyDeleteGood point about flashing signs announcing the opening. Hopefully MCDOT does that, so drivers stop cutting through Springfield. It's gotten pretty bad on Cromwell Dr and Springfield Dr.
I wonder how people will feel about Ridgefield Road remaining temporarily closed, though. Springfield residents will have to continue driving the long way around to get to the shopping center.
I think neighboring residents would like direct access to the shopping center again, so please do reopen Ridgefield quickly.
ReplyDeleteI heard MCDOT is still several days away from accepting the road from Regency.
ReplyDelete@8:02 agree, they really need to open it asap
ReplyDeleteI believe Pepco still has some work to do, that's why the road is not yet open
ReplyDeleteIt's October 21st and the road still isn't open while appearing to be fully operational.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone shed light on the hold up?