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| 18-wheeler that just drove through the Springfield neighborhood turns right from Ridgefield Road onto Westbard Avenue |
The freedom convoy through the Springfield neighborhood of Bethesda continues, as commuters, shoppers and truckers predictably continue to cut through the residential community as the shortest way around the poorly-planned closures of Ridgefield Road and Westbard Avenue at River Road. Nearly one week ago, Ridgefield was shut down between Westbard and River, and Westbard was closed to traffic between River and Ridgefield. Official detours that take most drivers miles out of their way using Goldsboro Road or Little Falls Parkway, as anyone with common sense predicted in advance, are being widely ignored. Instead, drivers of vehicles large and small are using Springfield Drive and the upper blocks of Ridgefield to reach Westbard or River, taking them through an entirely residential area.
Trucks of all sizes have been using the unofficial route all week, including the 18-wheeler pictured above. This isn't surprising either, as it's not only the shortest detour, but trucks are not allowed to use one of the official detour routes, Little Falls Parkway.
There's no way to enforce the "local traffic only" signs, But this is why the plan to completely shut down the lowest block of Ridgefield at River for 16 months was such a bad idea. Unfortunately, the Montgomery County Council and Transportation Department chose to steamroll ahead with the closures, and we're seeing the totally-predictable results.
3 comments:
I don't blame the truckers. The official detour signs on the road point to using Little Falls Parkway -- which is closed to trucks but there is no signage offering a truck-friendly detour.
Ridgefield _should_ be used as a detour. We should all bear the pain and hassle of this 16-month closure.
Overall this is an MCDOT failure for not coming up with reasonable solutions here.
2:33: Using Ridgefield as an illegal detour is not exactly everyone "bearing the pain and hassle." It's shifting all the burden to one street, which is why the plan was indeed a failure as you say for not coming up with a reasonable solution.
I do agree that this plan could have been better- at Mass and Westbard, they should change the sign, as it still says Ridgefield Road is closed. It would be easier for the larger trucks to go on Mass and Goldsboro, and they really should open up Little Falls Parkways now on weekends.
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