Google Maps displaying alternative facts about Westbard road grid in Bethesda (Photos)

Google Maps is displaying incorrect information for the recently-reopened road network around Westbard Avenue in Bethesda. The website shows a traffic signal at the intersection of Westbard Avenue and Ridgefield Road, which reopened last Friday, December 1, 2023. There is no traffic signal at that intersection, only stop signs. But that's not all that's wrong.

Note shown by Google Maps
incorrectly labeling a block of
Ridgefield Road as "Closed"

Even more strangely, the "Traffic" layer of Google Maps is showing the block of Ridgefield Road between Newington Road and Westbard Avenue as "Closed until Jan. 19, 2024." This is also - obviously - incorrect, as the road has been open for three days now. I'm curious where Google is retrieving this data from. Up until today, I assumed that information about planned road closures was retrieved from official government feeds that announce such information - the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, in this case. 

Despite Google Maps' claims, there is
no traffic signal at this intersection

The rest of the traffic information for the Westbard area appears to be correct, including the recently opened "Brookside Drive" block between River Road and Westbard Avenue. I checked with a user of the Waze navigation app, who reported back that Waze was displaying accurate information about the Westbard area as of last night, so it appears to be a Google issue.

Ridgefield Road-Westbard Avenue intersection reopens in Bethesda (Photos)

An unprecedented 17-month closure of a Bethesda neighborhood's arterial road network has come to an end. The intersection of Ridgefield Road and Westbard Avenue reopened to vehicular traffic yesterday, after the completion of a road realignment project. While the original concept was to extend Westbard down to the River Road-Brookside Drive intersection, at some point a decision was made to call that new block of Westbard "Brookside Drive." It is now labeled as the 5600 block of Brookside, a street name that has up until now been an elite address through the Kenwood neighborhood across River Road.

While neither Montgomery County nor Westbard developer Regency Centers has publicly spoken about the naming decision, the late change represents a sacrifice on the part of Regency, as it loses the branding opportunity of having the "Westbard" street sign over the voluminous commuter traffic that passes through the River-Brookside intersection only a block from the company's new Westbard Square development. On the positive side for Regency, the realigned road creates a direct field of view of Westbard Square from the River-Brookside intersection.

New traffic signals at the new Westbard-Brookside "T" intersection midway between River and Westbard Square were also activated on Friday. The signals will make what was originally going to be a very dangerous, ungoverned intersection for pedestrians and drivers much safer. Fully-separated bike lanes also provide a very safe route for cyclists along the Brookside and Westbard portions between River and Westbard Square. With the Westbard road grid reopened again, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation is now expected to study the traffic patterns that develop, to determine whether or not to implement a closure of Westbard Avenue at River Road that was recommended in the 2016 Westbard sector plan.

New Westbard Avenue sidewalk opens at River Road in Bethesda (Photos)

One of the new sidewalks along the realigned Westbard Avenue has opened to pedestrians at River Road in Bethesda. The access point between River and Westbard also allows for new views of the construction of the realigned segment of Westbard Avenue itself, which replaces the 5100 block of Ridgefield Road. Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of next month, at which time the intersection of "Westbard & Westbard" is supposed to reopen to traffic.

Westbard Avenue realignment construction update (Photos)

Construction continues to proceed on the realigned segment of Westbard Avenue in Bethesda, which will connect to River Road at the same intersection where Ridgefield Road did before that block of Ridgefield was demolished. Some questions have been raised about the final dimensions of the new road - the width of the lanes, and where the protected bike lanes promised in the Westbard sector plan will be. The closure of the main arterial road grid of the Westbard area continues to represent what may be the largest transfer of public land for private corporate use in the history of Montgomery County, with an entire side of a community shut down for over a year. The roads are scheduled to reopen when the project is completed in September 2023. Let's hope the new Giant has new freezers, as the TV dinner freezer units were broken down Monday at the existing Westbard Giant store, as they have many times over the last decade.

New Westbard Avenue continues to take shape in Bethesda (Photos)

Here are some of the best views yet of the new, realigned section of Westbard Avenue being constructed in Bethesda at River Road. Now in place is most of the median, as well as curbs. While the realignment of the road was not the idea of developer Regency Centers, you can see here how it will create a view directly onto the Phase 2 apartment building that will replace the existing strip mall retail center structure in these photos. The road project, which will replace the first block of Ridgefield Road, is expected to be completed in September 2023.

Springfield residents divided over closure of Westbard Avenue at Ridgefield Road in Bethesda

The closure of Westbard Avenue at Ridgefield Road in Bethesda earlier this week has proved to be a divisive issue in the Springfield neighborhood. Residents of the lower blocks of Ridgefield had been dealing with heavy cut-through traffic, including large trucks, since the lowest block of the street was closed at River Road last summer. In recent months, some had asked for the unauthorized detour to be terminated by creating a cul-de-sac at the Ridgefield-Westbard intersection. A few weeks ago, Montgomery County announced the closure, which Westbard developer Regency Centers said would last until September, when the realignment of Westbard Avenue is completed.

But as cut-through traffic has now shifted over to Springfield Drive and Cromwell Drive between River Road and Massachusetts Avenue, other residents in that part of the community are calling for Westbard to be reopened at Ridgefield. An online petition has been created to that end, and has 276 signatures as of this writing. In addition to cut-through traffic, supporters of the petition say that they are being blocked from accessing the businesses along Westbard Avenue. Customer traffic to the family-owned small businesses in the Westwood Shopping Center has dropped 25-50% since the road closure February 20, a petition update reports. The petition also notes that school buses and emergency vehicles can no longer travel between Ridgefield and Westbard.

Ridgefield Road destroyed between River Road and Westbard Avenue (Photos)

The closed section of Ridgefield Road between River Road and Westbard Avenue in Bethesda has been destroyed. A traffic signal bar extends over what was once a roadway, but is now a dusty wasteland. You can still see the grading of the landscape where the driveway rose from the lower level of the Westwood Center II mini-mall up to the parking deck level. Only one sidewalk remains on the west side of Ridgefield for pedestrian access. This segment of Ridgefield will never reopen; Westbard Avenue will be realigned to meet River at the old Ridgefield intersection.