The Maryland State Highway Administration SHA) has changed the date of scheduled lane shifts on Rockville Pike near the National Institutes of Health due to the recent snow.
Rather than start the project this week, as originally scheduled, SHA now plans to shift lanes on Rockville Pike starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Lanes will shift to the west side of the road near the West Cedar Lane intersection, where crews recently widened the road. Traffic stretching from North Drive to Locust Hill Road on Rockville Pike will be shifted, according to SHA.
Despite the shift, SHA plans to maintain three lanes of travel during rush hour, but left turns from northbound Rockville Pike to West Cedar Lane will be restricted during the remainder of the project. The lane shifts are required to enable crews to work on a new underground culvert beneath the road’s northbound lanes. SHA said nearby sidewalks and trails will not be affected by the work.
The work is part of $13.8 million in intersection improvements on the stretch of road, which is frequently backed up from traffic leaving and entering NIH, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. The highway administration estimates the full project will be competed by the fall of 2016.
Also, the Bethesda Metro station will be closed this weekend as work on replacing the station's escalators continues.
Picture to the right: The highlighted portion of the map shows the stretch of Rockville Pike that will be affected by the lane shifts. Credit: Google Maps
