MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNCIL
ROCKVILLE. MARYLAND
ROGER BERLINER CHAIRMAN
CouNcIL PRESIDENT TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE
District 1 ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
March 14, 2017
Mr. Gregory Johnson
Administrator
State Highway Administration
707 North Calvert Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Dear Administrator Johnson,
More than a year has passed since three members of a Bethesda family were killed while turing
across River Road (MD 190) onto Braeburn Parkway to access Walt Whitman High School. Despite
repeated requests for safety improvements at this intersection from community members and elected
representatives at the county, state, and federal levels, little has been done to remedy the problem.
On March 8, about 100 members of the community gathered in the high school’s auditorium to
make their frustrations known. Many said that they remain fearful of this non-signalized intersection.
Some also said that they prohibit their children from using this entrance to the school. Others said that
they have seen too many “close calls” involving pedestrians and drivers at the non-signalized crosswalk
across River Road just south of the intersection.
We understand that the interim improvements your agency promised for the existing intersection
Jast fall should finally be complete in the spring. We also understand that a Concept Study for the
community's preferred alternative of creating a new, signalized intersection nearby at River Road and
Pyle Road should be ready to release to the public in May.
Are these timelines for intersection improvements at River Road and Braeburn Parkway
and the release of the new intersection Concept Study accurate? What other information should
the community know?
In addition, we requested on October 6, 2016 that the State Highway Administration designate this
section of River Road as a School Zone in order to set a lower speed limit, On October 20, 2016, you
advised us that SHA’s District 3 engineering staff would evaluate the feasibility of establishing a School
Zone here and that evaluation would take up to 45 days to complete. More than five months later, we
have yet to receive formal notice of the result of that evaluation and would appreciate being
notified.
We look forward to your response.
STELLA B. WERNER OFFICE BUILDING - 100 MARYLAND AVENUE, 6™ FLooR, ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND 20850,
(240-777-7828 on 240-777-7900, TTY 240-777-7914, FAX 240-777-7989
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Senator, District 16 Delegate, District 16 Delegate, District 16 Delegate, Distict 16
CC: Cedric Ward, Director, Office of Traffic & Safety, SHA
Brian Young, District 3 Engineer, SHA
Christopher Bishop, District 3, Community Liaison, SHA
Anyesha Mookherjee, District 3 Assistant Traffic Engineer — Traffic, SHA