Surprise street closure for crane installation irks Bethesda drivers, pedestrians (Photos)

Woodmont Avenue between Bethesda Avenue and Leland Street hasn't been open that long, but drivers and pedestrians were surprised to find it closed on Saturday. No traffic control signage was posted in advance, and I can locate no public announcement. Woodmont Avenue's temporary pedestrian path was not sealed off, but blocked by barrels. Some able-bodied pedestrians squeezed by and used the path, but there was not enough room for a wheelchair to pass.

Bethesda Avenue entrance
to the temporary Woodmont Avenue
pedestrian path

The pedestrian path on
Saturday

The "war on pedestrians" continues
in downtown Bethesda

This shutdown was not related to the Lot 31 development that required Woodmont Avenue to close for the last couple of years. The closure was required to install the tower crane at the Solaire Bethesda luxury apartment project at  7100 Wisconsin Avenue. This is a common occurrence around town these days, as the heavy equipment - included a crane needed to assemble the tower crane - take up a lot of space, and that's hard to come by in an urban area. Expect the road to remain closed for at least part of today, as crews complete the job.

One side benefit of the closure was getting some close-up photos of the equipment used to install the tower crane.

BETHESDA BOMB SQUAD ROBOTS IN ACTION ON WOODMONT AVENUE (VIDEO)

Here is video of two Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services bomb unit robots during last night's police investigation of an apparent bomb scare in a Bethesda parking lot. As of early this morning, Montgomery County Police and MCFRS have not yet given many specific details on the incident, which took place at Public Parking Lot 43 on Woodmont Avenue. The investigation required a block of Woodmont to close between Cordell and St. Elmo Avenues. Police reopened the road after 11:00 PM, but police and fire public information Twitter accounts were silent on the matter Tuesday night.

Despite the large police presence and road closure, relatively few downtown seemed overly concerned. Patrons at Sapphire Cafe, directly adjacent to the investigation, continued their fantasy football drafts.

WOODMONT AVENUE CLOSURE PHOTO GALLERY EXCLUSIVE! BETHESDA ROW STREET CLOSED

SEE HOW THEY

DID IT!

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive

The hour finally arrived Friday night, and a small army of construction workers, police and heavy machines began closing a section of Woodmont Avenue between Bethesda and Miller Avenues.  It wasn't immediate, however, and even after midnight, Woodmont hadn't yet been entirely walled off at Bethesda Avenue.

As planned, a new traffic signal arm was brought to life at the famous Barnes and Noble intersection.  Then the northbound side of the Woodmont stretch was shut down, with inbound traffic from 355 diverted down Leland Street.  Interestingly, while Miller Avenue will be an important relief artery during the 2-year street closure, last night its intersection with Woodmont was barricaded, and inbound drivers waved back to Wisconsin Avenue.

Watch how it all happened with this exclusive on-scene photo gallery:

Barnes and Noble corner, facing SE towards The Seasons

Flagmen and police began slowing traffic so workers could
start activating the new traffic signal arm at Bethesda and Woodmont

Some of the last cars to ever drive on this stretch of
Woodmont wait for the flagman's signal, as utility
workers get set up at the intersection with Bethesda Avenue

There he goes!  And we're underway ahead of
schedule at Bethesda Row

The arm swings him out and over to the new
signal arm, as cars rush by beneath him

Activating the new signal requires opening
this box on the corner of Woodmont and Bethesda

By now, the doomed section of Woodmont was
 open to southbound traffic only

Enter the Caterpillar from stage left.  This hard-working
vehicle stole the show for the rest of the evening

Here's how it works:  The crane lifts these barricades off the
flatbed, and sets them onto the pavement where the
Caterpillar can reach them

Then the Caterpillar uses two long fork
tines on its front to grab the barricade...

...and moves it into place

Caterpillar fans watch from an upper floor
balcony at The Seasons

It's now after midnight.  Police have closed the Barnes and
Noble intersection, and work continues full steam.  But
Woodmont still isn't fully sealed off yet at that hour

It's official:  This segment of Woodmont Avenue
 is now closed, and the new traffic signal is active

This is the barricade at the other end of the
closed segment of Woodmont.  You're facing
towards Bethesda Row

New setup and crosswalk on Miller Avenue

Need to walk from Bethesda Avenue to
points further south on Woodmont like
Leland Street or the Bentley dealership?
Take this new pedestrian walkway
between The Seasons and the
construction site of The Flats [straight
ahead, where the lamp post is]

The new traffic signal arm makes its daytime debut at
the intersection of Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues

Wooodmont Avenue is officially barricaded