NEW TRAFFIC-SIGNALED INTERSECTION BEING CREATED ON ARLINGTON ROAD (PHOTOS)

Utility workers are installing traffic signals, and creating a new controlled intersection in the middle of Arlington Road between Bethesda Avenue and Bradley Boulevard. The new intersection is part of the approved plan for the mixed-use residential/Ourisman Volkswagen project at 7001 Arlington Road, currently under construction where the U.S. Post Office once stood. A new driveway entrance into that development will comprise one side of the new intersection; the other will be an existing curb cut into the Bradley Shopping Center near Strosniders Hardware.

One of the new signal arms
can be seen in this photo
taken yesterday, before the
utility crews arrived

Crossing Arlington has always been a challenge there, with the long distance between crosswalks. In recent months, sidewalk closures along the construction site have created a deadly situation, with pedestrians entering the roadway as speeding cars burst around the blind curve just south of the site. While most traffic will use the southern driveway into 7001, the old "post office" driveway will remain accessible to trucks making deliveries to the building and auto dealership. It's unknown if the Volkwagen dealership will have to block a lane of Arlington when cars are delivered, as happens across the street at EuroMotorcars. 

The intersection is part of 7001's site plan, designed to promote the pedestrian safety and traffic circulation goals recommended by the Bethesda Central Business District master plan. Why is it going up before the building is finished? Because the county is requiring the traffic signals to be operational before it will issue an occupancy permit for the building.

Once on-scene last night,
they shut down the right
lane on the CVS side of
Arlington Road

Crossing Arlington Road has
not been very convenient

Driving in and out of the
Bradley Shopping Center
may also get easier with
the new signal