Montgomery County Department of
Transportation (MCDOT) and the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) reached
an agreement last month to reduce the number of lanes on Old Georgetown Road.
There will be two through-lanes in each direction, with one shared left turn
lane, at the new intersection at Hoya Street being constructed in the White
Flint redevelopment area.
In the most recent Capital
Budget, the County included additional funding to connect Hoya Street all the
way to Montrose Parkway in order to divert more traffic off of Old Georgetown
Road, with the goal of reducing the number of lanes being required by the state
on Old Georgetown Road. Since Old
Georgetown is a state road, only the state can make decisions on lane
configurations and issue permits for construction. Original plans called for up to eight lanes
at this intersection.
After the additional funding was
approved, MCDOT provided a supplemental traffic analysis to SHA that justified
its request to reduce the number of lanes to help achieve the vision of the
Sector Plan. After thorough analysis,
SHA agreed that the Hoya Street connection will provide enough traffic relief
to move ahead with narrowing that segment of Old Georgetown Road sooner than
originally planned, and has approved MCDOT’s request.
The decrease in lanes will
significantly improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety by reducing crosswalk
distances. In addition, MCDOT will construct on-road bike lanes and an off-road
shared use path between Hoya Street and Grand Park Avenue.
