On second thought...Woodmont Avenue closure postponed in Bethesda

A potentially devastating street closure near Bethesda Row has been postponed. Cryptic signs referring to an unidentified segment of Woodmont Avenue closing appeared last week. Eventually, the segment was identified as being located between Strathmore Street and Wisconsin Avenue, and it was to remain closed from June 8 through August 31, 2026. Now the electronic sign boards are advising "Work Delayed" and "Road Open."

Woodmont Ave. to close between Strathmore St. & Wisconsin Ave. June 8 - August 31 in Bethesda

There's finally an explanation for those cryptic "Woodmont to close" signs placed at Bethesda Row recently. Several commenters had suggested it might be for an upcoming WSSC water utility project, and it turns out that this is indeed the case. It's a major project to replace a 54" large-valve vault under Leland Street, a project so big it will take from June until October 2026 to complete. The work will require Woodmont Avenue to close between Strathmore Street and Wisconsin Avenue from June 8 to August 31.

Street access will be for residents and affected businesses only during that period. WSSC expects all work to be completed during business hours on weekdays, and between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM on weekends. Nighttime work will be performed only if determined to be necessary, and, of course, dates could move if there are extended periods of bad weather between now and October. WSSC promises to restore pavement conditions to what they were or better, after the project is completed. Needless to say, along with the loss of two lanes of Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda through the end of August, our traffic nightmares will soon be reaching Freddy Krueger proportions.

Cryptic Woodmont Avenue closure message puzzles Bethesda residents

A digital sign board placed on Woodmont Avenue between Elm Street and Bethesda Avenue has been displaying a message for several days. "Woodmont to be closed on or about 6/1/26." It doesn't specify why, for how long, or which segment of Woodmont it applies to. Over the last few days, I have combed through the Montgomery County Department of Transportation website news releases and projects page, and find no information about this closure. I've also reviewed the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center newsletters going back several weeks, and have found no mention of this. I asked MCDOT on X about the closure two days ago, and have not received a response as of this writing.

This will potentially be a major disruption to traffic in the Bethesda Row area and beyond. It will impact residents and businesses alike. And it is only a few days away. The public really needs to be informed by Montgomery County of the specifics of this closure.

Road work at intersection of River Road and Little Falls Parkway in Bethesda

Maryland State Highway Administration contractors were working at the intersection of River Road and Little Falls Parkway in Bethesda overnight. Traffic southbound on the parkway was forced to turn left onto River. That's quite a detour, as access from River to Massachusetts Avenue is artificially blocked all the way from the parkway to the D.C. line at Western Avenue. Heckuva job, Brownie! 

I can find no service bulletins or road closure notice related to this on the MDSHA website, but the work appeared to involve resurfacing. It would be nice to alert the public in advance, especially with the outrageous cost of vehicle registration in the state. Taxpayers recently ate the full cost of the flimsy flexposts along the bike lanes on River, as they apparently never considered things like snowplowing. We're coming up on a full decade of the newly-politicized "post-best-engineering-practices" MDSHA, and it shows.

Bethesda neighborhood sealed off due to gas leak (Photos)

Another major gas leak has been detected in Bethesda, this time in a residential neighborhood bordering downtown Bethesda. The Sacks subdivision on Leland Street has been entirely sealed off between Woodmont Avenue and Bradley Boulevard. A Washington Gas crew is on-site digging under the street to locate and repair the leak. There is a strong odor of natural gas in the air in that vicinity.

"Major" gas leak closes intersection in downtown Bethesda (Photos)

Update - February 3, 2026, 6:50 AM: MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer says Washington Gas has located the gas leak in a valve box in the vicinity of Old Georgetown Road and St. Elmo Avenue. A Washington Gas crew has remained on the scene and is in the process of repairing the leak.

Update - 10:54 PM: Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Pete Piringer says the area being searched for the leak now includes Cordell and Del Ray Avenues near Old Georgetown Road. Piringer reports there are "high readings of gas in entire area outside; higher readings at utility manholes."

Update - 10:28 PM: Police have extended the closure of St. Elmo Avenue to Norfolk Avenue. Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Department is among the agencies now on-scene.

A gas leak has forced the closure of a major intersection in downtown Bethesda. The four-way intersection of Arlington Road, Old Georgetown Road, St. Elmo Avenue, and Wilson Lane is currently closed due to what one Montgomery County police officer on the scene described as a "major gas leak." There is a noticeable odor of natural gas in the air. Police are directing traffic in the area, which should be avoided at this time.

Target truck rerouted onto Woodmont Avenue 
due to the gas leak road closures

Overnight utility work on Cordell Ave. in Bethesda

Cordell Avenue was closed to traffic at Norfolk Avenue in downtown Bethesda overnight. A utility crew was digging up the road near Pines of Rome. It was unclear which utility's contractor this was, or whether the work was planned or the result of an emergency. The block in question is between Norfolk and Old Georgetown Road.

WSSC repairs damage to Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda (Video + Photos)

Water utility WSSC led a major repair effort overnight in Bethesda, to get Wisconsin Avenue back into shape between Old Georgetown Road and Montgomery Avenue. The roadway was damaged by a water main break on Monday. WSSC removed the damaged section of 8' pipe from below the street yesterday, and then made preparations to resurface the road. A WSSC crew, contractors, and the Maryland State Highway Administration were all on the scene Tuesday night into this morning, resurfacing the street in front of the Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel. 

Westbard Pepco grid fails briefly ahead of high winds today in Bethesda

A wind advisory will be in effect today in Bethesda from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with gusts forecast by the National Weather Service to be up to 55 MPH, and isolated power outages expected around the Washington, D.C. region due to wind and falling trees. But the Pepco electric grid in the Westbard area already had a brief failure this morning, before the high winds had even arrived. Residents report that a power outage of several minutes occurred around 12:50 AM. There was no inclement weather in the area at the time. The electric grid in the Westbard area has had a significant number of outages, and appliance-damaging brownouts, since redevelopment work began on the commercial properties along Westbard Avenue and Ridgefield Road in 2017. Once again, concerns expressed by residents during the Westbard sector plan meetings - impact on utility infrastructure capacity, in this case - have proven to be prescient.

Last night, a Pepco crew was working on a significant project in the Woodmont Triangle ahead of today's cold front. Del Ray Avenue was blocked in both directions, where a large amount of utility equipment and vehicles had been brought in to work overnight.