New traffic signal on MacArthur Boulevard in Glen Echo

A new traffic signal is being installed on MacArthur Boulevard at the entry/exit for the Clara Barton Parkway in Glen Echo. The intersection has been governed by stop signs up to this point. This is just east of the Irish Inn and Glen Echo Park.

Nighttime mystery noise in Bethesda is real (Audio/Video+Photos)

Lights from resurfacing project on
Clara Barton Parkway as seen from
MacArthur Boulevard in Glen Echo

The mysterious, low humming sound keeping some Bethesda residents awake at night is real. I've now heard it myself Friday night/Saturday morning, Monday night/Tuesday morning, and last night. I still cannot definitively confirm that the noise is coming from the resurfacing project on Clara Barton Parkway, but did find that work going on at those times. 

The problem is that the mystery noise is about as loud as resurfacing would be a block away, at a distance of a mile away from the parkway. Yes, there is quite a bit of noise from the road work audible from MacArthur Boulevard directly above it in Glen Echo. But it doesn't seem as loud there as it should be based on the volume at further-away distances, and the noise as recorded here doesn't sound the way it does far away:

Resurfacing Sunday night and early Monday morning was just east of Glen Echo Park on Clara Barton Parkway, as contractors work their way into the District by December. But I will continue investigating, in case this is coming from another source. For now, I've confirmed that, no, you aren't hearing things; the noise is real.

Mystery noise keeping some Bethesda residents up at night

Several Bethesda and D.C. residents who live near the Potomac River inside the Beltway are reporting that they hear a loud, low humming sound during the night in recent months. There have been other nighttime noise mysteries from time to time in that area since the 1980s. Some would attribute them to secret goings-on at intelligence and military facilities in Sumner or Carderock.

While we can't definitively declare the current mystery solved, there's a possibility this particular noise may not require the attention of Fox Mulder. Since late summer, National Park Service contractors have been repaving Clara Barton Parkway. This work was to begin at Carderock and work its way in towards the District line by the end of the year.

The noise described does sound consistent with that heard in the River Road corridor when it was repaved about three years ago. Long, low humming and growling noises. At a distance, or inside structures, the sound may not immediately bring roadway resurfacing to mind.

Topographical factors may enhance the noise in this case. Clara Barton Parkway runs below neighborhoods at the bottom of a steep drop-off from homes located above it along MacArthur Boulevard. So the noise is going to refract off of the higher elevations on either side of the Potomac, and in the quiet of night, be even more noticeable.

Keep the reports coming in, however, in case the Mothman of West Virginia has relocated to our suburbs.

Clara Barton Parkway to be repaved starting July 27

The National Park Service will begin a major repaving project on Clara Barton Parkway on or about July 27, 2020. Contractors will repave the parkway between Carderock and Chain Bridge between then and the end of the year. Paving will begin at Carderock, and proceed eastward toward the District, according to Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center Director Ken Hartman.

Map of section to be
resurfaced; Lock 7 parking
closure shown in inset

NPS says the parking area will temporarily close at Lock 7 along the C&O Canal. The project will also include installing new signage, painting brighter/clearer lane lines and striping, reconfiguring lanes, and trimming vegetation that is close to the road.

Expect non-rush hour lane closures, as well as temporary, 2-week ramp closures. Signs will direct you to the next available exit ramp. The Federal Highway Administration is partnering with the NPS on the project.