SHA begins work on new traffic signals, improvements at River Road intersection near Whitman HS

The Maryland State Highway Administration is beginning work on a project it says will improve safety at the intersection of River Road and Braeburn Parkway, where three people died in a collision in 2016, including a Walt Whitman High School student. That collision was determined to have been caused by a westbound driver traveling at 115 MPH, but many in the nearby community have sought safety improvements at the intersection long before the deadly accident occurred.

Work on the project will continue from late summer until spring 2021. Expect temporary single-lane closures weekdays from 9:00 AM-3:00 PM, and multiple-lane closures overnights from 9:00 PM-5:00 AM the following morning. Additional lane closures may be necessary at times.

The project will construct a new traffic signal on River Road at Braeburn Parkway, and add concrete channelized islands to prohibit through- and left-turn movements from Braeburn Parkway onto River Road.

SHA will also install pedestrian-activated, full-color traffic signals on eastbound and westbound River Road in the vicinity of Pyle Road, and relocate the pedestrian crossing on westbound River Road closer to Walt Whitman High School.  In addition, SHA will construct a new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant sidewalk connection to the existing sidewalk adjacent to the school’s athletic fields.

The improvements were driven by residents and students who organized meetings where residents voted on potential solutions, and who facilitated ongoing dialogue with SHA for several years. A separate change by SHA, lowering the River Road speed limit to 35 MPH between Ridgefield Road and the Capital Beltway, was arbitrarily executed by SHA with no public hearings nor even an informational public meeting.