MCDOT to Close Portion of Arlington Road in Bethesda to Vehicles on Weekends and Open It to Pedestrians and Cyclists During COVID-19 Health Crisis

For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 7, 2020

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) announced today that it will implement weekend road closures on Arlington Road in Bethesda beginning Friday, May 8. The closures aim to expand upon Montgomery Parks’ ongoing weekend closures of Little Falls Parkway to provide increased space on local streets for pedestrians and cyclists.

In coordination with the Little Falls Parkway closure, Arlington Road will be closed to vehicles from Kenwood Forest Lane to its intersection with Little Falls Parkway from 9 a.m. on Fridays until 6 p.m. on Sundays. The road closure will be clearly marked with detour signs.

MCDOT’s traffic engineering team has identified this County-maintained roadway as one that can be used to expand outdoor recreation space without causing major disruption to local residents and businesses.

“Making this area available for outdoor recreation will increase the opportunity for the public to get outside while adhering to the COVID-19 distancing guidelines and should not have negative impacts on surrounding residents and businesses,” said MCDOT Director Chris Conklin. “We will continue to work with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to complement parkways made available for walking and biking and to explore whether this is a viable strategy to address needs in other locations.”

For the most up-to-date local transportation information, follow @MCDOTNow on Twitter, visit MCDOT’s transportation resource page for COVID-19, or subscribe to MCDOT news releases.

For the latest Montgomery County updates during the health crisis, visit the County’s COVID-19 website and follow Montgomery County on Facebook @MontgomeryCountyInfo and Twitter @MontgomeryCoMD.

Release ID: 20-095
Media Contact: Hannah Henn 240-777-8389