WOODMONT WATCH: SIGNS REOPENING IS NEAR (PHOTOS)

The opening of the new public parking garage at Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues was planned for this month. Installation of the "spaces available" signs at garage entrances, and unveiling of the pedestrian entrances, suggested the day was coming sooner rather than later. But as of this writing, the Department of Transportation has made no formal announcement of a specific opening date.

Yet signs of the pending opening are popping up - literally. The infamous electronic signs that gave false hopes of a reopening, when the street wasn't ready for prime time last summer, are back. With blank screens, as of this writing.

New sign posted Monday directs
pedestrians to "Woodmont South
and North Pedestrian Entrances"

Apparently, not all Montgomery County employees were off on Dr. Martin Luther King Day. Another interesting sign popped up Monday at the Lot 31 construction site, which directs pedestrians to the "pedestrian entrances," presumably the ones I've previously shown you. In contrast to previously-posted signage that emphasized that this stretch of Woodmont Avenue was "not publicly maintained," these two signs sport Montgomery County Government logos.

The Flats looks a bit odd from
this angle, like it is a shallow
remnant of a larger building

A makeshift pedestrian route
appears to be in place, delineated
by the orange and white barricades
at center-right in this photo

As you can see in these photos, neither sidewalk is currently available. There could be barrier-divided pedestrian paths in the roadway itself, and that would preclude the promised bike lane space, as far as I can measure. But it still doesn't appear ready for prime time today. Remember, while cars could drive in, even those drivers have to walk to their destinations. Can and will the sidewalks reopen when the road reopens? Is the overall facility going to be safe, and will it provide equal access to pedestrians and cyclists, as well as to cars accessing the garage entrances?

Stay tuned to Woodmont Watch.

I AM SHOCKED, SHOCKED WOODMONT AVE. WON'T REOPEN UNTIL 2015 (PHOTOS)

I think the biggest question about the briefly-promised reopening of Woodmont Avenue south of Bethesda Avenue is, why was it proposed to begin with? By my recollection, it was not originally planned to reopen at this stage of the Lot 31 development, anyway. The garage isn't ready, and neither building is near completion. Would it have been great to get it open? Sure.

But I was rightly skeptical when a mid-August reopening was first floated. How could a road be brought up to code with ADA and Bethesda Streetscape requirements from scratch in a couple of weeks? Then we found out how - with no such requirements or pedestrian access. Simply a two-lane cut-through for cars only. This did not seem to mesh with all of the trendy talk about walkable communities, pedestrian safety, "people over cars," bike lanes, and "complete streets" we hear so often in Montgomery County.

Then there were the confusing signs. No Pedestrian Access. Which worked so well on Fairmont Avenue, and still does along the former post office site on Arlington Road, right? Ask any driver who rounds the curve on Arlington, to find a couple of pedestrians' backs facing them in the roadway, how well it worked. Extremely unsafe, and the proposed Woodmont Driveway (to use a more accurate term) would have been dangerous as well, knowing that people were going to save a couple of minutes by plunging into oncoming traffic. One commenter on this blog made a good point about the very winding, bending nature of the road, too. Somehow, I doubt that's what the final road will be like - for safety purposes, if nothing else.

And no one ever explained the full implications (legal or otherwise) of the sign announcing that segment of Woodmont was not a publicly-maintained street. I had always assumed Woodmont would reopen as a finished street, maintained by the County.

Keeping Woodmont closed is hardly convenient for the general public. But inquiring minds want to know a couple of answers. What was the sudden rush to reopen, when nobody was expecting it anyway? And what specifically came to light regarding safety, that wasn't known when the original mid-August reopening date was given? It sounded unsafe from the beginning. And it didn't seem to make sense to have the developer and construction contractors spend the time and money on this, and then call it off.

WOODMONT WATCH: RESTART T-MINUS 24 HOURS IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

Here's how Woodmont Avenue looks south of Bethesda Avenue, just one day before it is scheduled to reopen (although the official language has been "on or about August 22." New signage again confirms that pedestrians will not be accommodated on the temporary 2-lane road. There are no bike lanes. There is also a sign stating that Woodmont Avenue is not a government-maintained road. Does anyone know what the implications of that are? Does it relate to liability issues if someone's car is damaged while driving on the road, or has an accident?

WOODMONT AVENUE REOPENING PUSHED BACK A WEEK IN BETHESDA

Woodmont Avenue south of Bethesda Avenue will now reopen a week later than expected, Montgomery County Department of Transportation Community Relations Manager Tom Pogue said in MyMCMedia report Friday. Pogue said August 22 is the new target date, but gave the standard "on or about" qualification. The street will be only 2 lanes. Lane striping was added Friday, but no bike lanes are yet designated. 

Pogue also confirmed that this segment of Woodmont will remain closed to pedestrians, despite a county law requiring sidewalks to remain open along construction sites.

WOODMONT WATCH: T-MINUS 24 HOURS (PHOTOS)

We are now 24 hours from the promised reopening date of Woodmont Avenue east of Bethesda Avenue (although the electronic signs around town have been saying "on or about August 15" in recent days). It's pretty clear that when it reopens, it will not be a fully finished road with sidewalks. Whether it will have bike lanes, or a pedestrian passage of some kind are still unknown.

One other interesting addition to The Flats at the Lot 31 construction site is the start of the rooftop structure.

Here's how Woodmont Avenue looks now:

WOODMONT WATCH: T-MINUS 5 DAYS - WOODMONT AVE. CLOSED SECTION IS PAVED IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

The reconstruction of Woodmont Avenue south of Bethesda Avenue took a major step forward Saturday, as the closed roadway bed received at least one level of pavement. I'm wondering if the reason the reopening is scheduled for August 15 (although newer electronic sign messages are slightly less confident, giving a qualifying "on or about"), is that there will be no sidewalks? It's the sidewalks and streetscaping that are among the features that would add significant time to the project. I have not heard what the plans are in that regard. Will the street be accessible to pedestrians when it opens, or just cars? Will there be bike lanes?

WOODMONT WATCH: T-MINUS 7 DAYS TO REOPENING IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

The promised reopening date of Woodmont Avenue south of Bethesda Avenue is a week away. You can see that there has been a lot of activity since my last update. Virtually all of the junk that was in the right-of-way has been cleared out. But it still seems unlikely the August 15 date promised on the electronic signs will be met, given the tremendous number of features and standards a street in 2014 Bethesda is required to provide and meet.

WOODMONT WATCH: T-MINUS 10 DAYS TO REOPENING (PHOTOS)

The Woodmont Watch is on! Woodmont Avenue's long-awaited reopening east of Bethesda Avenue has been promised for Friday, August 15. Here is the current state of the road's right-of-way from various angles: