One Thousand Cranes

If you want to date yourself, you can always talk about how you remember when Lowen's toy store and Gifford's Ice Cream were located on Wisconsin Ave. and you could even drive straight across Wisconsin Ave. on Old Georgetown Road. It wasn't quite Mayberry but it was quite different from the urban environment which has grown up around the Metro stop.

I've been following new development in Bethesda for the Town of Chevy Chase's Long Range Planning Committee . Lots of new projects are on the books that will promote an even greater transformation of the core of Bethesda. Indeed, 15 new projects have already been announced. In this post, I detail two of the largest projects. Both will have a major impact on existing connections between Bethesda and Chevy Chase.

Two huge development projects are planned for the intersection of Woodmont Ave. and Bethesda Ave. Woodmont East II will be an enormous development. It will engulf the existing building where Thyme Square is located as well as the open space between that building and the Bethesda Row Landmark movie theaters and even go over the existing garage in the adjoining building. In addition to a new 121,090 square foot hotel, Woodmont East II will contain 250 new condominium units in 304,135 square feet. There will also be 78,300 square feet of office space and 36,300 square feet of retail space.

This building will have to over the existing trail and the tunnel under Wisconsin Ave. connecting Bethesda and Chevy Chase will be blocked during construction. Hikers and bikers will have to cross Wisconsin Ave. and go through Elm Street Park during construction. Although the County spent substantial funds during the Duncan years to open the tunnel, the Department of Planning is not bothered by the change as the Master Plan apparently has the trail connection going down a non-existent bike lane along this route.

Lot 31 is already becoming the Area 51 of Montgomery County. This enormous development is a public/private partnership between Montgomery County and PN Hoffman and Stonebridge Associates. It will encompass the existing Lot 31 and 31A parking lots opposite Barnes and Noble and even Woodmont Ave. between them. You can view the development plan for yourself on their website designed to promote the project.

The development plan includes the construction of an underground parking lot with 1450 parking spaces (1150 public and 300 private). The parking lots will have two exits, one on the east side of Woodmont Ave. and one on Bethesda Ave (east of Woodmont Ave.). There will be 250 condominium units ranging in size from 600 to 3500 square feet for a total of 332,500 square feet. Thirty workforce housing units are included in the project. There will also be 40,000 square feet of retail space at street level.

The development plan should make the pedestrian crossings at Bethesda Ave. and Woodmont Ave. narrower and easier to cross than the current intersection. The plans also include a bike drop location and enhanced access to the trail behind the building, roughly equivalent tothe current secondary access behind the parking meters on the lot. Construction of the parking lot will entail closing Woodmont Ave.between Bethesda Ave. and Miller Ave (the latter is just north of Leland St.) for an estimated two-year period between Summer/Fall 2008 and Summer/Fall 2010.

There will also be permanent changes to the traffic pattern which will greatly impact the Town. Specifically, a new median will be constructed which will make it impossible to make left turns from Woodmont Ave. on to Leland St. This change appears designed primarily to assuage the community on Leland St. which will have to endure years of construction. Woodmont Ave. will also be narrowed from two lanes in both directions to one lane, thus likely increasing traffic backups on this street, especially in Ourisman Honda continues to unload cars there as it does now.