The Gaithersburg High School marching band roared and a crowd cheered as a RideOn bus dotted with lime green stars and filled with public officials pulled into Traville Gateway Transit Center next to The Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville on Monday morning, winning by minutes a race between two buses traveling the new Lime and Pink bus routes in Montgomery County.

The Pink and Lime RideOn bus routes, which opened Sunday, are part of the county’s Great Seneca Transit Network bus service initiative and have endpoints at the Shady Grove Metrorail Station and the Traville Gateway Transit Center/Universities at Shady Grove. The Pink line travels along Shady Grove Road while the Lime line is an express route that goes along I-370 and Medical Center Drive.

The Great Seneca Transit Network is being developed by the county to increase transit options for residents in the Gaithersburg and Rockville areas who are located farther from Metro stations and other public transportation options, according to county officials. At a cost of $26 million, the Pink and Lime lines are considered the first phase of the project. The second phase will include two additional bus routes, Cobalt and Gray.

The new routes provide a high-frequency service with buses arriving every 10 to 15 minutes on weekdays and 30 minutes on weekends. As part of the expansion, MCDOT made pedestrian and bicycle enhancements along the bus route corridors and installed new weather-protected bus stations with real-time route monitoring. Chris Conklin, director of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, said at Monday’s press conference with public officials that the project cost $26 million.

“It’s a part of the regional transportation system investment that we’re making. We cannot be successful if we cannot build out our transit network. We continue to lag,” County Executive Marc Elrich said at the press conference. “But this is important for us, and I’m really glad that we were able to get this done.”

According to Conklin, the new routes significantly cut down on the travel and wait times experienced with previous routes.

The new routes cut the travel time on buses between the Rio and Crown shopping centers in Gaithersburg and the Shady Grove Metro station by half, according to county officials. They also reduce the travel time between The Universities of Shady Grove and the Shady Grove Metro station by 80%.

“It used to take nearly an hour to get to Crown from here, now it takes 10 minutes. It used to take 41 minutes to get to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital from the Metro station. It now takes 21 minutes on this new service,” Conklin said at Monday’s press conference at Traville Gateway Transit Center at Traville Gateway Drive and Gudelsky Drive following the bus race. 

Conklin said that RideOn bus ridership has returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels and noted the system has made a number of improvements over the past nine months to try to improve the rider experience.

Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large), who attended the conference and chairs the council’s Transportation and Environment Committee, said he appreciates the “holistic approach” that was taken with the Pink and Lime routes expansion. Montgomery County was one of the first county governments in the United States to initiate a Vision Zero plan, with the goal of eliminating all traffic-related deaths by 2030.

“We have created 15 new crosswalks. We have brought 10 bus stops closer to those crosswalks. We’ve upgraded five intersections and restriped two roadways to make sure that our buses and bicyclists and pedestrians and cars are safer throughout our community,” Glass said. “So this might seem like it is a bus network, but it is a safe public transportation, pedestrian-friendly transit network.”

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Four Metro Red Line stations—Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen and Silver Spring–that were closed this summer reopened Sunday. The Takoma Park station, which also had been closed, reopened in late June. The stations were closed for construction improvements and also work on the Purple Line, a 16-mile light-rail that will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton when completed. [NBC4]

Gaithersburg’s Novavax wins emergency FDA approval for COVID vaccine

Novavax Inc., based in Gaithersburg, received emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration Friday for its updated Covid-19 vaccine. The shot, for ages 12 and older, will target the JN.1 strain of the virus. [Washington Business Journal]

Montgomery County to hold annual ‘Friendship Picnic’

Montgomery County will hold its 10^th annual “Friendship Picnic” from noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 15 at Wheaton Regional Park. The event will feature a free lunch, plus music, dancing, face painting, a petting zoo, a moon bounce, a carousel and rides on the park’s miniature train. [DC News Now]

Today’s weather: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 79

In case you missed it:

Labor Day closings in Montgomery County 

County launches new voucher program with Instacart to fight food insecurity

Local Jewish students share antisemitism experiences with Alsobrooks

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Editor’s note: This article, originally published at 11:38 a.m. on Aug. 29, 2024, was updated at 3:03 p.m. on Aug. 29, 2024, to correct that the location of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration headquarters is in Silver Spring.

To Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, the future of development and economic vitality in the county lies with the life sciences and technology industries.

But to get a stronghold in those industries, the county must have an economic and development landscape more like Northern Virginia, Elrich said Tuesday evening at an event sponsored by the business platform Bisnow in Bethesda.

The event dubbed the “Future of Montgomery County,” examined the county’s 2024 development trends and brought together architects, county planners, contractors, engineers, developers and business executives.

Elrich said in his opening remarks that after hearing from many developers that “life is better in Northern Virginia,” he decided to investigate the claim himself and spoke with planners and regulatory agencies about how the county differed from that region.

One of the key differences is how Virginia taxes development and commercial property using special taxing districts and laws that allow taxes in those districts to fund transportation projects, such as the Silver Line Metro, he said.

Speaking to the development and business community, Elrich suggested it is time to rethink how the county taxes commercial properties.

“I’m asking people here to be part of a change in Montgomery County to help us move the [County] Council, to help us move the state legislature, to give us authority that the state legislature in Virginia gave to the Northern Virginia counties,” Elrich said, referring to the process it will take to allow the county to change its taxing method.

According to Elrich, Fairfax County taxes commercial property at a rate nearly 50% higher than Montgomery County does. In the county, commercial and residential tax rates are the same.

Elrich also believes the county’s impact taxes, typically paid in large sums at the start of a project, are hindering development.

Development impact taxes are “assessed on new residential and commercial buildings and additions to commercial buildings in the county to fund, in part, the improvements necessary to increase the transportation or public-school systems capacity,” according to the county Department of Permitting Services website.

Elrich referred to Northern Virginia’s commercial taxing method as the “front door” to raise funds from special taxing districts to go toward transportation projects in the county such as the Bus Rapid Transit line.

Changing the taxing method is especially necessary now, Elrich said, because Gov. Wes Moore (D) recently warned counties of upcoming budget difficulties, especially regarding transportation funding, while speaking recently at the Maryland Association of Counties conference in Ocean City in August.

“The No. 1 impediment we have is transportation. And we’ve known about this for a long time,” Elrich said. “People in the early part of the 21^st century were talking about transportation being the key to economic development. And Montgomery County has not been able to make the progress that it needs to be.”

Improvements to the county’s transportation system, Elrich argues, will create a strong foundation for the county’s goal of becoming a life sciences hub and destination for developers.

Andy Altman, a principal and co-founder of Washington, D.C.-based Foursquare Development, said during a panel at Tuesday’s BisNow event that transit-oriented, high-density development is important to developers looking to develop in the county.

“Montgomery County has fantastic assets and these Metro stops … many of them are waiting for the development of that same kind of alignment,” Altman said, referring to Fivesquare’s partnership with the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) on a joint development project at the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro station.

Sandy Paik, general counsel at Rockville-based The Tower Cos., also spoke on the panel and acknowledged that development environments in Montgomery and Fairfax counties are different.

“[Montgomery County has] been left behind in some areas,” Paik later told MoCo360, “I do think that investing deeply in the transit-oriented development is going to be really critical for [the county].”

During his speech, Elrich noted several projects underway in the county that he hopes will become future life sciences hubs such as the property where the former White Flint Mall was located near the North Bethesda Metro station.

In July, WMATA officials, state and local officials and Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin discussed the future of the White Flint land with plans to construct a research center.

Elrich said he drew inspiration from Boston’s Kendall Square development, a neighborhood and district in the city known for being the home to a cluster of technology and life sciences companies such as Google, Johnson & Johnson, Novo Nordisk and Pfizer.

Other areas Elrich envisions as life sciences hubs are in downtown Silver Spring with the future expansion of United Therapeutics and in Gaithersburg with the expansion of AstraZeneca. Elrich also said the Viva White Oak development in Silver Spring is another area of interest as it is expected to be the future site of the East County campus of Montgomery College.

Elrich said he has been reaching out internationally to raise awareness about the county’s interest in being the next big bio-hub and in the last year has traveled to Taiwan twice and to Vietnam, China, India and South Korea.

On these trips, Elrich said he found that many biotech international companies are interested in the area due to its proximity to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which are headquartered in Silver Spring.

“We’re examining all of our life sciences assets. We’re determining what does Montgomery not have that other jurisdictions have?” Elrich said at the event. “We’re ranked No. 3  [in the country] in life sciences … Our goal is to change that, make a mark. And what we’re focused on is making sure that we have everything in Montgomery County that San Francisco and Boston have.”

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The almost seven miles of bus-only lanes on Georgia Avenue created for the Metro station closures this summer will stay in place through at least December as part of an extended pilot project agreement, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

The lanes were created to make bus transit more streamlined following the temporary closures of several Metro Red Line stations in Montgomery County, according to WMATA. The Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen and Silver Spring stations closed June 1 and are expected to reopen Sept. 1. The Takoma Metro station closed June 1 and reopened June 30.

WMATA announced Feb. 9 that it would temporarily close the five Metro stations over the summer. The closures were necessary to allow for construction at the stations and the building of the Purple Line, a 16-milie light-rail line that will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton when completed.

In light of the closures, free shuttle buses have been provided between open and closed stations in partnership with the state and county transportation departments and the Washington, D.C., transportation department.

Through collaboration with the state and county transportation departments, seven miles of bus-exclusive lanes were created along Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring. Drivers are prohibited from using these lanes and are subject to ticketing and fines. The temporary lanes are in effect daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

According to a WMATA release, local bus service moved faster than it ever has this summer–despite additional rider volume with the shuttle buses between Metro stations–while travel times for drivers remained constant.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a news release that the temporary bus lanes “highlight a low-cost project that has a high impact on the communities it serves. Extending the pilot through the end of the year will allow us to evaluate the project’s effectiveness and examine opportunities to speed up buses through additional targeted bus lane improvements in Maryland.”

More than 15,000 daily riders use the Metrobus and Ride On routes on Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road on average, according to the WMATA release. Metro and the county and state transportation departments will continue to evaluate the success of the bus-only lanes to determine whether they help alleviate traffic congestion and speed up buses. In the fall, the agencies will analyze data and make changes to the lanes to make them more efficient, according to the release.

“Bus lanes across the region have increased reliability and decreased travel time for bus passengers,” County Executive Marc Elrich said in a news release. “We want to improve the service for our existing riders–many of whom are low income, low English proficiency, or have disabilities–and demonstrate to potential new riders that the bus can be an attractive transportation option.”

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Sections of Sligo Creek Parkway in Silver Spring will temporarily close starting in September to make way for Purple Line construction, according to Montgomery Parks.

The Purple Line, a 16-mile light-rail line that will run from New Carrollton to Bethesda and be operated by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), is slated to be complete in late 2027. Closing part of the road will allow the project’s construction team to install light rail tracks along Wayne Avenue and reconstruct the road’s intersection with Sligo Creek Parkway, according to a Montgomery Parks release.

According to a Purple Line release, during the closure traffic will travel on one lane in each direction on Wayne Avenue.

“Work in this area is a critical part of progressing track installation and continuing the Purple Line toward revenue service. We are grateful for the collaboration and partnership with Montgomery Parks as we continue the momentum on the Purple Line,” said Ray Biggs II, MTA senior project director for the Purple Line.

Beginning on or about Sept. 16, the north side of the parkway from Schuyler Road to Wayne Avenue will be closed to vehicles until November, the release said. The 5.6-mile parkway runs from University Boulevard to New Hampshire Avenue and parallel to portions of the Sligo Creek Trail.

Montgomery Parks and the Purple Line news releases did not provide the exact date for the reopening of the road.

While construction is underway, the Sligo Creek trail is expected to remain open but there may be some short-term closures for trail improvements, the release stated. In December, the trail will be closed for four weeks for repaving.

Montgomery Parks Director Miti Figueredo said in the release that the temporary parkway closure will allow the intersection to be completed in a shorter amount of time while allowing the parks department to improve the road and trail in the area.

“We think parkway and trail users will be pleased with the result,” Figueredo said.

During the construction, vehicular traffic and pedestrian detour signs will be posted around the work zones. Here is a map of the closures and detours:

After construction on the north side of Wayne Avenue is completed, a southbound portion of the road running from Piney Branch Road to Wayne Avenue will close next spring.

Montgomery Parks officials did not provide a time frame for the spring closure but said each parkway closure is expected to last approximately two months. Updates will be provided as the work progresses, according to the release.

Next summer, the trail from Piney Branch Road to the Dale Drive Neighborhood Park bridge over Sligo Creek will close for four weeks for repaving. According to the release, the time frame is dependent on construction progress and updates will be provided by Montgomery Parks.

Construction on the Purple Line began in 2017. In March, the Purple Line completion was pushed back from the spring of 2027 to December of that year. Since the project’s inception, construction of the light-rail line has faced numerous delays and rising costs that are nearing $10 billion.

In May the project marked an important milestone with the opening of the Talbot Avenue Bridge in Silver Spring after roughly seven years of closure. The bridge is near the future Lyttonsville Purple Line station.

Shortly after, the Spring Street Bridge in Silver Spring closed in June for Purple Line construction and is not expected to reopen until 2025. During the closure, the existing bridge, paved for vehicle traffic over rail tracks, will be demolished and Purple Line crews will build a new span, according to MDOT.

In July, the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Purple Line project team unveiled the first Purple Line vehicle at a press conference in Prince George’s County. Each light-rail vehicle measures 142 feet, the longest of its kind in the nation, according to MDOT.

At the time, Maryland transit officials said the project was more than 65% complete, “with thousands of feet of rail track installed and 16 of 21 stations currently under construction.”

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The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Purple Line project team unveiled the first Purple Line vehicle at a press conference in Glenridge in Prince George’s County on Thursday.

Each light-rail vehicle measures 142 feet, the longest of its kind in the nation, according to a MDOT press release sent Thursday.

Under construction since 2017, the Purple Line is a 21-station light-rail line that will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton and connect riders to the Metro’s Red, Green and Orange lines as well as to MARC and Amtrak trains and bus services. Construction of the line has faced numerous delays since the project’s inception, but state transportation officials expect that it will be open for service in late 2027.

The vehicles are being built by CAF, a rail car manufacturer based in Spain. According to a press release, each vehicle has room for 430 passengers, with seating for 80. They are also built to accommodate up to eight wheelchairs, feature eight bike racks, and are designed to reduce noise as they travel through communities.

Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold said in a press release that the Purple Line project is more than 65% complete, “with thousands of feet of rail track installed and 16 of 21 stations currently under construction.”

Several Montgomery County officials were on hand at the event.

“This new light rail vehicle embodies the many benefits transit provides from connecting communities to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a press release. “The progress being made is because of the commitment and effort over the past year and a half to expedite work along the alignment.”

The vehicle unveiling is the latest milestone for the light-rail project.

The redesigned Talbot Avenue Bridge in Silver Spring reopened in May after roughly seven years of closure, marking the return of a century-old connection between two neighborhoods as well as a milestone for the Purple Line.

In May, MDOT announced that the Capital Crescent Trail is projected to reopen between Bethesda and Silver Spring in spring 2026—a year earlier than expected. The 11-mile trail, which runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Silver Spring, has been partially closed since 2017 due to Purple Line construction.

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The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has adjusted its free Red Line shuttle bus service in an attempt to improve travel times and reduce bus congestion at the Silver Spring Transit Center, according to a WMATA news release.

On Friday, the transit authority announced its decision to replace the Red Line Limited 2 shuttle loop with two new express loops. Prior to the change, the Limited 2 loop traveled from the Forest Glen Metro station to the Silver Spring station and then to Fort Totten and featured “longer than originally estimated” travel times, according to WMATA.

The two replacement loops took effect Monday and include the Forest Glen Express, which operates between Forest Glen and Fort Totten, and the Silver Spring Express, which operates between Silver Spring and Fort Totten.

“The implementation of the new express loops will allow shuttle operation and normal bus service to operate more efficiently, allowing customers to reach their destination faster,” WMATA said in the release.

The transit authority estimates 50 minutes of travel time for the new Forest Glen Express and 40 minutes for the new Silver Spring Express. The Downtown Express, which offers weekday-only service between Silver Spring and Metro Center in Washington, D.C., has an estimated travel time of 45 minutes, according to WMATA

Free Red Line shuttle bus service remains in effect until Aug. 31 during Metrorail operating hours, according to the transit authority.

WMATA introduced free shuttle service as an alternative transit option for commuters impacted by the temporary closure of five Red Line Metro stations on June 1. The Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen and Silver Spring stations remain closed due to construction of the light-rail Purple Line. Transit authority officials expect the closures to continue through Aug. 31.

WMATA officials also released updated travel time estimations for all routes involved in the free shuttle service. According to the transit authority, traffic and Metropolitan Branch Trail construction on Blair Road have led to longer than expected travel times.

As of Monday, WMATA estimates 65 minutes of travel time for the local service shuttle that serves all six stops between Glenmont and Fort Totten and 45 minutes for the limited-stop service shuttle that serves Glenmont, Wheaton and Fort Totten.

According to the transit authority, commuters can expect shuttles approximately every eight to 12 minutes on all loops but says “customers may experience longer wait times during rush hours and should add extra time to their commutes.”

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Montgomery County drivers should expect months of single-lane and ramp closures along River Road, also known as MD 190, between Wilson Lane and Western Avenue in Bethesda beginning this week, according to county government officials.

The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration and Washington Gas began utility work on the road Monday to install a remote-control valve on a natural gas transmission line in the median. The project is expected to be complete by fall, officials said in a release.

While work is scheduled to take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, a Washington Gas spokesperson told NBC4 that the company hopes to complete work by 5 p.m. when possible to avoid evening rush hour traffic.

Drivers can expect the following closures:

• The southbound left lane of River Road will be closed between Wilson Lane and Winston Drive will be closed.
• At the intersection of River and Goldsboro roads, the northbound (straight) right lane; eastbound (straight) right lane, shoulder and ramp; and westbound shoulder and ramp will be closed. There also will be sidewalk and temporary bus stop closures on the northwest and southwest sides of the intersection.
• At River Road and Western Avenue, the southbound (straight) right lane and the sidewalk on the southwest side of the intersection will be closed.

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Montgomery County’s parks department is seeking public feedback on a draft report that anticipates no major environmental impacts resulting from the controversial Little Falls Parkway Improvement project expected to get underway this fall.

The project, which has drawn both support and opposition from local residents and commuters, proposes to permanently reduce the number of traffic lanes on Little Falls Parkway in Bethesda to make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists, according to county planning officials. Montgomery  Parks is in charge of the $600,000 project

The public can submit comments online or via mail until July 18.

Changes to the parkway are expected to cover a 0.4-mile stretch from Arlington Road to Dorset Avenue. They include reducing the road from four to two lanes and adding safety improvements at intersections. Other proposed changes include adding a new buffered bike lane, new median, lane markings, signal timing changes, new lane separators, new turn lanes and signage, according to the environmental assessment.

In some areas, planners propose the removal of unused pavement between Arlington Road and Hillandale Avenue, while existing pavement will be retained from Hillandale Road to Dorset Avenue, which would allow for a lane for emergency responder use only, according to planners.

Safety improvements planned for intersections along the parkway include raised crosswalks and increased crosswalk times.

The draft environmental assessment now under review “analyzes the potential environmental impacts that would result from the implementation” of the proposed changes in comparison to a “no-build” alternative, according to the report.

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), the federal government’s central planning agency for the National Capital Region, is now reviewing the plans to reconfigure the parkway. To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, NCPC is required to look into the project’s potential adverse impact on the human and natural environment.

According to the draft assessment, both the proposed changes and the “no build” options for the project would not result in any change in existing soil, topography or geology. The report also states that no tree or brush clearing or disturbance of existing vegetation is expected from the project.

In addition, the proposed parkway changes are “expected to enhance the natural aesthetic of the corridor through the removal of some pavement and the relatively small addition of green landscaped areas,” according to the assessment.

Little Falls Parkway also runs through the 160-acre Little Falls Stream Valley Park, which is a critical habitat for native animals and plants, according to the assessment. The council-approved project is not expected to impact endangered species in the area such as Northern long-eared and Tricolored bats, according to the report.

In addition, no disturbance of existing vegetation or widespread pesticide use is expected, which could impact Monarch butterflies. Monarchs are considered candidate species for classification as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In March, the NCPC hosted an online meeting to discuss the project and answer questions from the public.

At the meeting, Montgomery Parks planners explained the project was necessary to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists and calm traffic. The project is a Vision Zero-centered plan, which is a county initiative to eliminate all traffic-related deaths by 2030, planners said.

In response to concerns about increases in traffic volume and congestion, planners said they conducted traffic studies that considered current and future development and population growth projected for the region up until 2040.

“We have been proactive in looking at what future traffic growth in the area might do and we think [a] two-lane Little Falls Parkway does have more than adequate capacity to handle the anticipated future traffic growth,” Andrew Tsai, an engineer with Montgomery Parks, said during the meeting.

The section of the parkway where the number of lanes is to be reduced includes the crossing for the Capital Crescent Trail, a pathway popular with cyclists and pedestrians. In 2016, Chevy Chase resident and cyclist Ned Gaylin was struck and killed by a driver while he was crossing the parkway in a recumbent bike.

In June 2022, the county launched a pilot road diet project on the parkway to “address concerns with cut-through traffic in adjacent neighborhoods associated with weekend closures” of the parkway, according to Montgomery Parks. In April 2023, the Planning Board approved the two-lane configuration between Arlington Road and Dorset Avenue.

In February 2023, the Kenwood Citizens Association filed a lawsuit against the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Montgomery County Planning Board alleging they failed to get the proper approval from NCPC to reduce the parkway’s size. The lawsuit – which has been withdrawn according to NCPC general counsel Anne Schuyler – alleged that reducing the number of lanes would be detrimental. Supporters and opponents of the lane reduction also have testified about the project before the Planning Board and County Council.

In January, the council unanimously chose to move forward with plans for the Little Falls Parkway road diet project – with adjustments that councilmembers called a “compromise.” The adjustments include implementing a two-lane road separated by a median with two lanes dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists with a protected shared-use path.

Planners have said the current road diet has had a “significant impact” on reducing the number of crashes on the parkway and at the Capital Crescent Trail crossing and along the parkway.

According to the environmental report, there hasn’t been a crash at the Capital Crescent Trail crossing since 2020. In 2016 there were six crashes at the crossing and eight crashes between Arlington Road and Hillandale Road along the parkway. Since road diet measures have been implemented, just two crashes on the parkway in 2022 have been reported, according to the assessment.

On Sept. 5, NCPC is expected to hold a final review meeting of the project. Pending NCPC approval, the final design and construction of the project may begin in the fall and winter, according to Montgomery Parks.

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Starting Friday, a 2.2-mile stretch of Beach Drive from Knowles Avenue in Kensington to Cedar Lane in Bethesda will close to vehicle traffic from Friday through Sunday year-round.

The Montgomery County Planning Board voted unanimously June 13 to approve the permanent expansion of the weekend closure as part of Montgomery Parks’ Open Parkways Program. The modifications also included eliminating a 0.7-mile segment of road – from Cedar Lane to Connecticut Avenue – from the program.

The Open Parkways Program was first initiated by the parks department in 2020 as a way to provide more outdoor recreational space during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program closes portions of Beach Drive and the Sligo Creek and Little Falls parkways in the county to vehicles on weekends.

Before the recent changes, Beach Drive’s Open Parkways section from Knowles Avenue to Connecticut Avenue was closed to motor vehicles on Saturdays and Sundays. In the spring and summer, the parkway was closed from 7 a.m. on Saturdays to 6 p.m. on Sundays. And in the fall and winter, the parkway was closed from 7 a.m. on Saturdays to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

Now, Beach Drive from Knowles Avenue to Cedar Lane will be closed to motor vehicles from 9 a.m. Fridays through 6 p.m. Sundays in the spring and summer and from 9 a.m. Fridays to 4 p.m. Sundays in the fall and winter. Cedar Lane to Connecticut Avenue will be open again to motorists on the weekends.

According to Montgomery Parks, “more than one million pedestrians and cyclists have taken advantage of the Beach Drive Open Parkway.”

The new changes also mirror the Open Parkways schedule along Sligo Creek Parkway in Silver Spring, according to a Montgomery Parks news release.

In the release, Montgomery Parks Director Miti Figueredo thanked the Planning Board for approving the changes.

“We started this program during the pandemic as a pilot project to create more outdoor recreational space for residents and based on our analysis of usage data and traffic counts, as well as the evaluation of the significant public input we received,” Figueredo said. “We believe these modifications will make more space available for recreation while minimizing disruption to neighboring residents.”

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