The intersection of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street in downtown Silver Spring will be closed temporarily beginning “on or about” Wednesday due to construction of the light-rail Purple Line, according to a press release from the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT).
The closure is expected to last until through Aug. 21. Detour information can be found here.
The Purple Line, which has been under construction since August of 2017, is a 16.1-mile light-rail line with 21 stations that will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County and connect riders to the Metro’s Red, Green and Orange lines as well as to MARC and Amtrak trains and bus services.
The dates of the Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street closure were chosen to “minimize disruption,” but could lead to closure of local bus routes, according to the release. Pedestrian access will not be affected. Access to the county’s Wayne Avenue parking garage and nearby businesses will be provided, the release said.
The closure of Wayne Avenue will stretch a block to the entrance for the shopping center where Whole Foods Market and Silver Spring Ace Hardware, among other businesses, are located.
For months, construction has impacted travel along Wayne Avenue, with traffic barriers recently closing off the road’s intersection with Dale Drive and disrupting traffic patterns to Sligo Creek Parkway.
Earlier this spring, MDOT extended another construction-related closure in downtown Silver Spring.
Difficulties with the relocation of overhead utility lines along with complex excavation work are delaying the completion of the rebuilding of the Spring Street Bridge until the end of the year, the department announced.
MDOT initially closed the bridge in June 2024 and said it would be closed until January 2025, but then pushed that date back until the spring and now to the end of 2025.
“Due to the complex nature of this work, bridge construction is taking longer than originally expected,” MDOT spokesperson Kathryn Lamb told Bethesda Today in late May.
