An eight-story, 121-unit building planned for seniors just off River Road in Bethesda can’t move forward until a traffic study is conducted with public schools in session.
The project, from Bethesda-based Sheridan Development, would put the roughly 97-foot-tall building on Landy Lane, overlooking the Washington Episcopal School’s athletic field. The school partnered with the developer to get the property rezoned, allowing the one-acre site to be sold to help the school’s future expansion plans.
But as a condition of the rezoning, some local civic leaders asked that the developer consider adding a full traffic light at the intersection of River Road and Landy Lane—where those who live in the building would be accessing and leaving the property.
Jody Kline, the attorney representing Sheridan in the Montgomery County Planning Department’s approval process, said planners told him in May that they’d like the traffic light study to be done before the developer submitted its preliminary and site plan proposals to the Planning Board.
According to state rules, the traffic light study (officially known as a Traffic Warrant Study) must be done during the school year to account for school-related traffic. Kline said the developer plans to do the study once school starts and then present its findings to the State Highway Administration (SHA), which must approve the installation of a traffic light.
The SHA will determine if the amount of cars that pass through the intersection, which is near the Capital Crescent Trail bridge over River Road, merits a traffic signal.
Kline said the developer hopes to file its preliminary and site plans by the end of the year. If the Planning Board approves those plans, it would clear the way for the project.
The building, which would be either apartments or condos, would restrict residency to households with at least one person age 55 or older.
