After years of pleas from leaders in Chevy Chase Village, the State Highway Administration (SHA) next week is set to start installing a painted crosswalk across six-lane Connecticut Avenue along with a pedestrian-activated warning signal to drivers.
The crosswalk will be painted just south of where Connecticut Avenue intersects with Lenox Street, near the Chevy Chase Village Hall.
According to the village, the work will start Thursday and SHA contractors hope to finish by the end of February. All work will be done on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., during which the left travel lanes on northbound and southbound Connecticut Avenue will be closed.
Leaders in Chevy Chase Village have long called on SHA to install a crosswalk and full-fledged traffic signal at the intersection, arguing residents on the east side of Connecticut Avenue want easier access to a post office facility inside the Village Hall.
Last May, the village said SHA denied its request for a full traffic signal because it hasn’t been shown there are at least 50 pedestrians crossing Connecticut Avenue at the spot in a given hour.
The pedestrian-activated warning signal include lights that will start flashing on either side of the crosswalk if a pedestrian pushes a button before crossing.
The signal will be similar to the ones SHA put into operation last May along Wisconsin Avenue at its intersection with Chevy Chase Boulevard.
