MCDOT Awards Contract for Pedestrian Crossing and High Speed Elevators at Medical Center Metro Station in Bethesda

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, September 20, 2016

 Clark Construction Group will be the prime contractor for a BRAC-related design/build project to construct a pedestrian access route under Maryland Route 355 and high-speed elevators that link the Metrorail mezzanine at the Medical Center Station in Bethesda with the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The project also includes improvements to the intersection of Rockville Pike at Jones Bridge Road.

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) has selected Clark Construction Group, LLC of Bethesda to be the prime contractor to construct the MD 355 (Rockville Pike) Multimodal Crossing Project at the Medical Center Metro Station in Bethesda. The project will construct a pedestrian access route under Route 355 and high-speed elevators between the Medical Center Metrorail mezzanine and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center campus.

“Montgomery County applauds the Herculean efforts of Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin and Congressman Chris Van Hollen who helped secure the funds for this project,” said County Executive Ike Leggett. “I am thrilled we are giving the green light to this essential project. Montgomery County is proud to be home to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. We want to do our part to make sure our military receive the world class care they deserve. This project will help patients and personnel get timely care instead of being stuck in gridlock.”

The Crossing Project is the largest of a series of road, transit, and pedestrian projects designed to mitigate the dramatic increases in traffic from the 2005 BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) law that established Walter Reed on the campus of Naval Support Activity Bethesda (NSAB). Under BRAC, personnel at NSAB increased by 45 percent, and the number of visits to the campus doubled to one million each year. Pedestrian crossings of Rockville Pike rose from 3,000 to 7,000 each day, exacerbating traffic congestion and safety concerns.

The Crossing Project has two main components: A pedestrian underpass and high-speed elevators that link the Medical Center Metrorail mezzanine to Walter Reed’s main entrance on the east side of Rockville Pike. The underpass will provide a safe crossing for bus and carpool passengers arriving at the Transit Center on the west side and pedestrians from nearby neighborhoods, who account for nearly 20 percent of street crossings. The elevators will provide safe Metrorail access for Walter Reed and neighborhoods east of MD 355.

In addition, the County and the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) have agreed to construct SHA’s adjacent MD 355/Jones Bridge Road BRAC Intersection Improvement Project in conjunction with the Crossing Project. This will include traffic and pedestrian safety enhancements.

MCDOT developed the Crossing Project with federal, state and local transportation agencies and local community leaders.

“We are very grateful to our partners in this project; the Navy, Maryland SHA, Federal Highway Administration, National Institutes of Health and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority,” said MCDOT Director Al Roshdieh. “We are also indebted to community and business leaders who toiled for nine years to help develop and promote the initial crossing project concept. And finally we thank the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) for its diligence during the complex grant process.”

The Crossing Project and the MD 355/Jones Bridge Road Intersection Improvement Project are fully funded by the federal government at $110 million, including $80 million from Defense Department grants administered by OEA, $28 million from DoD’S Defense Access Roads Program, and $2 million in federal highway funds administered by SHA. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2017 and be completed in late 2020.

More information is available at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/brac

   

Release ID: 16-193
Media Contact: Phil Alperson, Montgomery County BRAC Coordinator 240-777-2595