Construction contractor Hensel Phelps has released a color-coded map of all of the sidewalk closures and detours around the Marriott International headquarters site at 7750 Wisconsin Avenue. Although it was previously said that the sidewalk on Wisconsin would reopen following demolition, it is shown as remaining closed for now. Curb lanes are closed along parts of Wisconsin, Woodmont Avenue and Norfolk Avenue for use as pedestrian detours alongside the construction site.
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The Hensel Phelps site office will be located at 7768 Woodmont Avenue, in Suite 200. "We ask for your patience during periods of inconvenience, in knowing that good things will ultimately follow," the contractor said in a message to the community.
20 comments:
So it looks like pedestrians have unfettered movement all around the construction site.
Thanks, MoCo Cartel! :)
5:25: So it looks like commuters on Wisconsin Avenue now have 33% less road capacity during already congested rush hour, due to Marriott being allowed to unjustifiably hog a lane. No thanks, MoCo Cartel! :(
The only alternatives to closing a traffic lane are:
1) Forcing pedestrians to cross to the other side of the street, and back, or
2) Forcing pedestrians to walk right through a construction zone.
Whine whine whine...that's all Dyer does, because he has no accomplishments to his name.
Do you really expect them to excavate a 5 story deep hole to build the parking deck, and construct 13 and 21 story towers that are required by design guidelines to be placed at the property lines, without closing the sidewalks? You must unde5stand that they need rom to safe;y stage this effort. It’s great that pedestrians can still use the barrier protected curb lanes, and don’t have to cross the busy streets.
By the way, the Avocet Tower has posted demolition notices, so I expect the east side of Wisconsin, and the south side of Montgomery lane will be similar. At least on this site, I believe all of the parking is above grade, so the lenghty excavation process will be eliminated, unfortunately at the expense of having exposed parking levels above grade. The above grade parking actually extends out over the plaza on Wisconsin. Not sure why they opted to avoid placing parking below grade to maximize their rentable area above ground. Perhaps too much interference with the Metro at this area.
Dyer has obviously never been in Manhattan, or even viewed construction sites there via Google Satellite View. Traffic lanes are closed routinely to divert sidewalks during construction.
Glad to see the pedestrian detours on the map, including on the county roads. That's a major improvement in maintaining walkability as Bethesda builds out.
I guess we lose that same lane a few blocks down in front of the purple line station, so might as well prepare drivers for it early.
7:44: They do it all the time in New York City, where they actually enforce laws that require shelters and open sidewalks during construction.
7:04: Wrong! It's due to my reporting in 2014 that we have the (unenforced) additional sidewalk law. Roger Berliner cited my coverage of sidewalk closures as "a public service" in October 2014.
See a partial list of my accomplishments at RobertDyer.net
"They do it all the time in New York City, where they actually enforce laws that require shelters and open sidewalks during construction."
Just a quick look at Google Satellite View of Manhattan will show you many construction sites where sidewalks are detoured into (closed) traffic lanes, as is being done at the Marriott site and the Purple Line station site.
5;03 AM. Have you ever watched a construction project and noticed that you can’t dig a hole and remove the soil, while you are actually in the hole? Construction staging requires space around the excavation to allow truck to be loaded to remove the soil. This requires sidewalk closure when excavation extends to the property line, like in most urban conditions.
On tight construction sites like you stated in NY, they still need space outside of the actual construction area for staging, material deliveries and access/egress from the site.
When you see a covered sidewalk in an urban area, it is only placed adjacent to buildings that are being lightly remodeled or reglazed. The erection of a 21 story tower, only inches from a public sidewalk, protected only by a plywood roof coving the sidewalk Would not meet OSHA regulations. A bucket of concrete or a steel beam dropped from above, would easily crush any sidewalk enclosure. If you watch a construction crane in operation, they never lift any serious weight over areas that they can not cordon off. This means street closures when required.
This is why that the curb lane is used as a temporary pedestrian passage to allow the safe construction and staging of tall buildings.
The Apex Building was part of a structure built over the former railroad tracks, that continued all the way to the curb. Of course the sidewalk needed to be closed.
@9:43AM: Just for what it's worth, they seem to parking a lot of heavy trucks next to the Apex site on Wisconsin. Seems like that lane can be turned back over to public use now, either as a pedestrian detour or as a travel lane. The former probably makes more sense in light of the other closure.
I see concrete mixers parked in the Wisconsin curb lane very day, often including weekends, as they transfer concrete into the hoppers, lifted by the tower crane to pour the massive Purple Line tunnel walls. This curb lane is currently heavily used.
Saith Dyer: "Roger Berliner cited my coverage of sidewalk closures as "a public service" in October 2014.
"See a partial list of my accomplishments at RobertDyer.net"
I searched and I couldn't find Berliner's comment anywhere but on your own blog. Can you link to any news site that reported this? As well as any of the "accomplishments" you list on RobertDyer.net?
6:24: There are links and photos that back up many of the accomplishments right on the page. You can watch me save the grade-separated Montrose Parkway East on video from that Planning Board meeting in full color. Enjoy!
Why would something Roger said to me directly at the Silver Spring Civic Center be on a "news site?"
9:07: Of course temporary closures are understood. It's the long-term sidewalk and lane closures that should not be allowed, and are not allowed in cities like New York. Somehow we are forced to put up with it here. Gee, I wonder why?
Marriott will be a tenant in the building. But The Bernstein Companies is developing the site. Your future coverage will be more factual if you blamed any closures on the developer, not the tenant.
"Of course temporary closures are understood. It's the long-term sidewalk and lane closures that should not be allowed..."
What is your distinction between "temporary" and "long-term" closures? Where has there been a sidewalk or lane closure that has lasted longer than required for adjacent construction?
"...and are not allowed in cities like New York."
Once again, you're lying. Just a glimpse at a satellite view of Manhattan shows this clearly. And the sidewalk and traffic lane closures last much longer there because of the much larger buildings being built there.
"Of course temporary closures are understood. It's the long-term sidewalk and lane closures that should not be allowed, and are not allowed in cities like New York"
Ummm is this a serious statement? Most sidewalks on the west side around the Hudson Yards project have been closed for years. You have to walk in the street. And this is beside the Javits Center, one of the most visited destination in the city.
6:21am stop lying and actually spend some time in NYC. They don't shut down blocks of sidewalks for every building being constructed like we see in Bethesda.
1:55PM, don't be silly. We all know how to google images of "construction barricades in manhattan"
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