Sidewalk work at Cordell Avenue at Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda

Warmer weather has brought the return of sidewalk work in Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle neighborhood. Here it is at the intersection of Montgomery County road Cordell Avenue and state road Old Georgetown Road. Watch for sidewalk closures in the area. Follow detour signage posted around the work zone.

Montgomery County gets one Bethesda sidewalk slacker to clean up act

Montgomery County has taken action to address at least one of the dangerous unshoveled sidewalk situations in downtown Bethesda. A County code enforcement officer visited the site of the future Artena Bethesda apartment building (7938-8008 Wisconsin Avenue, and 8011-13 Woodmont Avenue), and issued a violation notice for the sidewalks in front of these properties, which remained unshoveled five days after the storm ended. The property owner's contractor has now shoveled a path in response to the order, which threatened $520 in fines if the sidewalks were not cleared in 24 hours, and $750 per day after that. Montgomery County requires property owners to clear sidewalks in front of their buildings within 24 hours of the precipitation ending.

Bethesda's sidewalk scofflaws ride out snowstorm shovel-free

The pedestrian crosswalk curb ramp has now been cleared at Wisconsin and Chase Avenues in downtown Bethesda. But four days after the storm ended, some sidewalk scofflaws remained around town. Perhaps not surprisingly, one repeat offender on that list is the property owner of the vacant storefronts that are part of the long-delayed Artena Bethesda apartments project at 7938-8008 Wisconsin (former Saphire Cafe and former Golden Needle tailoring shop, former Ranger Surplus), 8011 Woodmont Avenue (former Sir Walter Raleigh Inn/Bruce Variety), and the former Montgomery County Public Parking Lot 43 (sold to the Artena project by the County several years ago). County regulations require sidewalks to be cleared within 24 hours of precipitation ending (ice stopped falling around 8:00 PM Sunday night in Bethesda). Looking at the bright side, this is about as close as moribund Montgomery County gets to a "shovel-ready" project these days.

Downtown Bethesda well-plowed while ice hampers residential street snowplowing

Curb ramps still snowed in at Wisconsin Avenue 
crosswalk at Chase Avenue last night 

Roads in downtown Bethesda were generally in good shape by yesterday afternoon, but snow plowing operations in residential neighborhoods have been complicated by the ice that made up a substantial part of the precipitation that fell between 6:00 AM and 8:00 PM on Sunday. I noticed that Montgomery County plows were having a harder time than usual getting down to bare pavement on neighborhood streets, making four passes instead of the typical two, and there being a lot more noise as a lot of the snow and ice were simply getting crushed flatter by the heavy truck. I have also seen smaller pickup truck-size vehicles with plows now being deployed.

One other factor may have played a role where road conditions remained poor. Driving around parts of Bethesda prior to the storm's arrival, I found that much less of the solution used to pre-treat the pavement had been applied to the County streets I traveled, compared to previous years. I don't know if this was a cost-saving decision, a malfunctioning sprayer truck, or a kneebend to environmental organizations. But a couple of stripes in each travel lane certainly meant that the melting function was diminished.

Also, as of last evening, the crosswalk curb ramps on either side of Wisconsin Avenue at Chase Avenue had not yet been shoveled. Property owners are responsible for clearing these ramps, as well as the sidewalks. See the photo at the top of this article. But in general, it's really quite impressive that the County was able to get the downtown streets into the condition you see here, as this snow was very, very nasty to shovel and plow after the ice storm started just before sunrise on Sunday. Despite the recent and frustrating trend of plowing only a single lane on residential side streets (property taxes have not been correspondingly reduced by 66%), we should cut the snowplow drivers a break in this case, because they were really struggling in spots to clear this away.

Pedestrian refuges installed in Springfield neighborhood in Bethesda (Photos)

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation has begun installing pedestrian refuge islands in the Springfield neighborhood of Bethesda over the last several weeks, on Springfield Drive and Cromwell Drive. Pictured here is the latest that was just constructed on Springfield Drive at Ridgefield Road. They essentially provide a somewhat-protected spot mid-crosswalk where pedestrians can pause. These have become familiar on many urban streets in the county, where trucks and reckless drivers tend to damage or dislodge the "State Law" signage. It will be interesting to see how long these last.

Pedestrian cut-through now under construction on Auburn Avenue in Bethesda (Photos)

The pedestrian cut-through from Auburn Avenue to Norfolk Avenue is now under construction behind the new 4909 Auburn apartments. When completed, pedestrians will be able to take this short-cut under the building on Auburn, and follow this walkway to Norfolk Avenue. The amenity was designed as a short-cut between Imagination Stage and Battery Lane Urban Park. Pedestrians will emerge next to the end storefront of the new apartment building on the Norfolk side of the property.

Sidewalk work on Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda

Sidewalk work is underway on Woodmont Avenue in the vicinity of Bethesda Chocolates at 8003 Woodmont in Bethesda. Part of the sidewalk was closed Friday, but it was still possible to pass. A permit is posted at the site, regarding restoration of brick pavers to conform with downtown Bethesda streetscape guidelines. Construction Heroes of Rockville is the contractor performing the work.

Bethesda construction update: 4909 Auburn apartments (Photos)

The sidewalk has reopened to pedestrians in front of the new 4909 Auburn apartments, across from Imagination Stage on Auburn Avenue in downtown Bethesda. This follows the reopening of the sidewalk on the Norfolk Avenue side of the property early last week. With the sidewalk on Auburn now accessible, we can get the first good look through the pedestrian cut-through that passes under the building at ground level, to see a classic Bethesda brick house on Glenbrook Road is now squarely in the line of sight from Auburn. Lighting inside the tunnel has been activated. Meanwhile, construction continues on the lobby, with a staircase visible, as well as large rolls of Royal Thai carpet awaiting installation.

Norfolk Avenue sidewalk reopens near Rugby Avenue in Bethesda

Construction of the 4909 Auburn apartment building is winding up, which has allowed the western sidewalk of Norfolk Avenue between Auburn Avenue and Rugby Avenue to reopen to pedestrians. A retail space in the ground floor of 4909 Auburn, which is available for lease, faces onto the sidewalk at this location on Norfolk. I just noticed a page on the development's website that shows the property's available ORI Cloud Bed and Pocket Office. The former is a bed that lowers down from the ceiling into the living room space, and the latter divides your living room into an admittedly-cramped living room and separate office for those working from home. 

New bike and pedestrian crossing signals activated at Bethesda intersection (Photos)

The new bike and pedestrian crossing signals at Wisconsin Avenue and Montgomery Lane in Bethesda have been activated. They had been installed last October, but now the signals and control boxes have been uncovered and put into service. This dual crossing is part of the new Bethesda bikeway segment that connects Woodmont Avenue to Montgomery Avenue via Montgomery Lane. It is part of a larger network of new protected bikeways allowing circulation throughout downtown Bethesda, including segments near Bethesda Row.

Norfolk Avenue Bethesda Streetery to return on Fridays for summer concerts

A number of readers have been asking about the promised return of the Norfolk Avenue Bethesda Streetery in the spring of 2024. It appears the Streetery will return in a limited fashion for the late spring and summer seasons. Norfolk Avenue will close at St. Elmo Avenue on Fridays only during the Friday night Summer Concert Series events beginning on May 17, and ending on September 20. It's not clear yet whether the closure will terminate at Cordell Avenue, or at Del Ray Avenue, but the closures reportedly will begin each Friday during the concert season at 1:00 PM, and end at 10:00 PM Friday night.

The Streetery and the Summer Concert Series are both organized by the Bethesda Urban Partnership. Bethesda UP is continuing to pursue an effort to convert part of Norfolk Avenue into a permanent shared street. That concept was recommended in the 2017 Bethesda Downtown master plan. The Streetery was first established during the pandemic in 2020, and features seating areas for outdoor dining from nearby restaurants.

A new look for Elm Street at Bethesda Row (Photos)

The widening and makeover of the sidewalk along Elm Street at Bethesda Row appears to be complete. A variety of new seating has been provided, as well as new street trees, lighting and brighter pavers. Tall planters now separate much of the sidewalk from the traffic lanes along Elm Street between Arlington Road and Woodmont Avenue. Bethesda Row property owner Federal Realty has been updating the pedestrian gathering spaces around the development, including a new plaza and interactive fountain outside of Anthropologie that are expected to debut for this summer.