Springfield residents divided over closure of Westbard Avenue at Ridgefield Road in Bethesda

The closure of Westbard Avenue at Ridgefield Road in Bethesda earlier this week has proved to be a divisive issue in the Springfield neighborhood. Residents of the lower blocks of Ridgefield had been dealing with heavy cut-through traffic, including large trucks, since the lowest block of the street was closed at River Road last summer. In recent months, some had asked for the unauthorized detour to be terminated by creating a cul-de-sac at the Ridgefield-Westbard intersection. A few weeks ago, Montgomery County announced the closure, which Westbard developer Regency Centers said would last until September, when the realignment of Westbard Avenue is completed.

But as cut-through traffic has now shifted over to Springfield Drive and Cromwell Drive between River Road and Massachusetts Avenue, other residents in that part of the community are calling for Westbard to be reopened at Ridgefield. An online petition has been created to that end, and has 276 signatures as of this writing. In addition to cut-through traffic, supporters of the petition say that they are being blocked from accessing the businesses along Westbard Avenue. Customer traffic to the family-owned small businesses in the Westwood Shopping Center has dropped 25-50% since the road closure February 20, a petition update reports. The petition also notes that school buses and emergency vehicles can no longer travel between Ridgefield and Westbard.