The Woodmont Avenue Streatery has been shut down, and the seating for outdoor diners cleared away. But this block between Bethesda Avenue and Elm Street has not been reopened to traffic yet. Instead, heavy equipment has been moved into place. A few of the picnic tables have been placed on the sidewalk near Anthropologie at Bethesda Row.
Montgomery County's Department of Transportation is going to construct an extension of the new bikeway from Bethesda Avenue onto this block. For that reason, the Streatery had to close.
Dropping temperatures have reduced the number of people using the two Streateries in recent weeks, and their impact on businesses remains controversial. Some users of the Streateries are angry about the Woodmont location being cleared out. The owner of Flanagan's Harp & Fiddle cited the Norfolk Avenue Streatery (which remains open for now) as a contributing factor to the demise of his business - the straw that broke the camel's back, in essence. Flanagan's had operated for 35 years in downtown Bethesda, only to be done in by the Streatery.
17 comments:
Living close to the Woodmont Avenue Streetery, I would say it was a fun event at first, when no one was eating inside. But over time, the ad-hoc nature of the street closure, with orange construction barriers, and tents has really worn thin. The sidewalks that flank the Streetery are quite wide, and provide plenty of outdoor dining opportunities in the area. All of the colorful picnic tables have now been moved to the plaza space near Antropolgie and to Bethesda Lane expand the outdoor seating options.
It’s time to complete the bike lanes, and reopen the street to traffic and parking. They will also be able to re-open the very handy Bethesda Circulator bus station on Woodmont Avenue.
If Federal Realty can come up an effective and artful permanent expansion of the sidewalk on the west side by eliminating some or all of the parking, the idea of an enhanced dining area might work, but please, enough with the orange barricades!
Thank God. Get the other one open in Woodmont Triangle open as well. Remember, these are called roads not parks. Bethesda does have plans already approved where that kind of outdoor seating would be better suited. The Veteran's Park will be expanded and the building across from the Tastee Diner, which was an upscale plumbing and bathroom showroom, will be demolished to make way for an urban park. What's more, behind the Women's Market, there is a plan to have a pretty big grassy area. That's perfect for a Streetery. You cannot move in Bethesda and the existing Streeteries (never meant to be at all permanent) contributed greatly to the inconvenience. Now we have bikes everywhere and lanes taken away. Thanks Alboronoz. But we'll take what we can get. Great move.
Some real nerds in the comments. Why would you prefer cars whizzing by over a public gathering space?
Is there a connection between these streeteries the past couple of years and the spike in downtown Bethesda's rat population?
The ubiquitous rat traps around town are not doing the job. Bethesda UP needs to step in before we get a reputation like DC in regards to rats. Seen some cat sized rats scurrying in the streets.
Unfortunately a very short-sighted view. Closing more streets to vehicle traffic will give us pleasant walkable areas with more economic activity and safer streets for all. Please visit any European city (and many American cities) to see the wonderful transformation that is possible by pedestrianizing (or at least limiting vehicle access) downtown zones.
The Streatery's were a great idea during the pandemic. I thank the county government for coming up with it and giving restaurants a way to stay open.
Woodmont is a very wide street, you could probably make the sidewalks wider, add the bike lane, and still have enough for one lane of traffic in each direction. But definitely time to reopen it and the one on Norfolk avenue. We don't have the kind of mass transit to support pedestrian only streets in downtown areas and with the coming construction on Bethesda Avenue we need the street back for vehicles.
I hope the next move is to make Woodmont two ways from Old Georgetown road to Bethesda. The one way part of the street is a disaster and has created a freeway with no curb appeal and too much space for cars. Balance.
I'd imagine the construction equipment will remain dormant until after the Taste of Bethesda has come and gone.
Unknown, I am with you on Woodmont. I would add, and I have posted here, that EW Highway should be returned to two way from just south of BCC thru 355 when it becomes Old Geo'twn.
Here's an idea that will never happen. Stop adding bike lanes everywhere that are rarely used. Isn't that what CCT is for? Bikes are great but can't and should not be on every street where, hello, cars are meant to travel. Share the road? I wouldn't ride on any street or so called bike lane. They aren't safe at all and we've that time and again and increasingly.
The woodmont streetery should be kept on most of the street, but there should be a 1-way 1-lane northbound lane adjacent to the bike lanes with a few speedbumps
7:32 AM
Almost every full street closure, to create a pedestrian only areas, has failed in America, and have been fully or partially reopened to vehicular traffic. Cities need streets connected to other street to disburse traffic flow, to expose retail storefronts, to provide drop offs, to access to street parking, and to serve as bus and fire lanes and for police surveillance. Bethesda Row is already one of the most walkable downtown areas in America, and has won urban planning awards from the Urban Land Institute. It already has very wide sidewalks, and lots of outdoor dining areas, seating areas, planters and street trees.
The downtown Bethesda plan indeed calls for East West Highway, Montgomery, Old Georgetown and Woodmont Avenues all to be returned to two way traffic. One way streets are proven to increase speed, provide less exposure to retail signage, and create counter flow adjacencies to bike lanes, forcing cyclists to drive near oncoming traffic. They are much more dangerous to cross as pedestrians sometimes are not aware of one way traffic flow. In Great Britain, one way streets are always labeled with “Look Left” signage, so pedestrians are more aware of traffic passing close by on the “wrong” side of the road.
This change is needed more than closing the streeteries. Woodmont being 1 way paralyzes traffic and causes Arlington, OGR, and Wisconsin to be more congested than needed.
12:29 - welcome to the revolution. what a great post. traffic snarled, roads closed, bike lanes everywhere and cyclists getting hit and killed. Oh, and the stupid politicians knee jerk and take much needed travel lanes out of commission completely. Gabe Albornoz is a fool saying we need to further narrow traffic lanes. Huh? That makes things worse and more dangerous not better and safer.
"We don't have the kind of mass transit to support pedestrian only streets in downtown areas"
Except the past few years proved exactly that, obviously. And the area's excellent mass transit isn't even the only reason - there are parking garages all around these ped-only areas, too.
12:29 - Great to hear about those roads being returned to two way. But how about Montgomery you mentioned? They've just done something completely stupid but not unexpected and have taken an entire travel lane out of commission with a bike lane no one will use. This road and the others your mentioned must be opened up and returned to two way traffic. That was a major mistake when they changed EW Highway near BCC to one way. The others followed and similarly were a mistake.
I liked Harp and Fiddle and wish it were still open, but I don't buy that the streetery is why it closed between June of 2020 when streeteries showed up and September 2020 when Harp closed. The pandemic itself is the more significant reason, along with a bunch of others prior to the pandemic.
4:54 - Correct. Harp had issues before pandemic. But that was a crushing blow no doubt.
Such a shame to see the Streetery closed. It was a major draw for our family; we'd come to downtown Bethesda because we knew there was great food and a good stretch where the kids could run around without us parents having to worry about cars. I very much hope the Streetery will reopen once the weather warms up again. It's a huge asset to and draw for local businesses.
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