Editor’s note: This article, originally published at 2:32 p.m. on June 20, 2025, was updated at 4:13 p.m. on June 26, 2025, to correct the timeline in which the passageway will be constructed and the cost of the project based on the new FY 2026 budget.
Starting in mid-2029, the county expects to begin construction on a pedestrian tunnel underneath Georgia Avenue that aims to make it easier and safer for pedestrians who live or work in Silver Spring’s Forest Glen area to enter the nearby Forest Glen Metro Station.
The Montgomery County Planning Board is expected to review plans Thursday for the proposed 334-foot tunnel at Georgia Avenue and Forest Glen Road. The most recent recommendation for the county’s Capital Improvement Program budget projects that if all goes as planned, construction on the $48.2 million project may commence in fiscal year 2030, which begins July 1, 2029.
With the construction of the tunnel, the county aims to improve access to the Metro station for those who live in neighborhoods and work at institutions in the area, according to planning documents.
County officials say the passageway would help improve pedestrian safety by removing the need for pedestrians to cross the heavily traveled, six- to eight-lane Georgia Avenue, also known as MD 97. Many stretches of Georgia Avenue are part of the county’s High Injury Network, which includes sections of roadways in the county that have the highest incidences of serious and fatal collisions.
“Traffic volumes and speeds on MD 97 can be very high, and pedestrians must cross over eight lanes of traffic. These crossings can be very intimidating, reducing community connectivity and use of the Forest Glen Metro Station,” according to county Capital Improvements Program budget documents referring to the project.
At Thursday’s meeting, the board will review a mandatory referral of the project from the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT). Mandatory referrals are plans submitted by government entities and reviewed by the board on an advisory basis.
Montgomery Planning staff have recommended the board approve the mandatory referral for the passageway project, according to planning documents. Staff noted the project should provide “safe and comfortable routes for people walking, biking and rolling to access both the proposed project” and the Forest Glen Metro station at the southwest corner of the Georgia Avenue and Forest Glen Road intersection.
Near the intersection are the Forest Glen Medical Center, the Montgomery Hills Baptist Church and Siena School, the Americana Finnmark Condominiums, and several neighborhoods of single-family homes. Holy Cross Hospital on Forest Glen Road is about 2,000 feet east of the intersection. According to planning documents, the hospital is one of the county’s largest employers and the second largest hospital in Maryland.
On any given day, around 500 pedestrian trips will occur across Georgia Avenue, according to an MCDOT presentation about the project.
The underground Metro station has a parking lot, bus bays and kiss-and-ride facilities on the north side of Forest Glen Road. Those facilities are connected to the station through an existing tunnel under Forest Glen Road and the proposed passageway would connect with that existing tunnel.
In addition to the passageway, the project proposes construction of a new entrance plaza with canopied stairs and elevators at the northeast corner of the Georgia Avenue and Forest Glen Road intersection. The plaza would be on property at 9801 Georgia Ave., where the Forest Glen Medical Center is located.
Another entrance with elevators would be built at the station at the southwest corner of the intersection on property owned by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, according to planning documents.
With preliminary planning completed for the project, the county plans to pursue land acquisition in fiscal year 2029, which begins July 1, 2028, according to the most recent recommendation for the Capital Improvements Program budget.
