For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 2, 1998
Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, County Council members and other State and County officials today cut a ribbon to officially open the newly relocated and widened section of MD Route 118, between Wisteria Drive and Clopper Road in Germantown. The new six-lane divided roadway parallels the existing two-lane facility, which will remain open for local travel.
"Germantown's present-day mobility needs and its future success depend largely on the ability of the Route 118 corridor to function as an effective transportation network," said Duncan. "The completion of this project marks a very big day for the residents and businesses of this vibrant and growing community."
Route 118 is a critical link for the Germantown community to the planned town center and the Germantown MARC station. It also will provide transportation capacity to support the needs of the West Germantown Development District.
The opening of the new section of Route 118 marks the completion of a project which began construction in late 1996. It also marks the culmination of a multi-phased effort, which began in the 1980s, to improve and realign Route 118 throughout Germantown. The project being opened to traffic includes a new bridge over the CSX railroad tracks and completion of a six-lane divided highway, beginning at Wisteria Drive and extending west to approximately 2,000 feet south of Clopper Road (MD Route 117).
Additional improvements to be completed this summer and fall include the reconstruction of a 3,300-foot section of Clopper Road as a six-lane divided highway, safety improvements to the old Route 118 at Dawson Farm Road, and a new four-lane section of nearby Dawson Farm Road. Dawson Farm Road will be opened to traffic after improvements to the Liberty Mill Road and Dawson Farm Road intersection are completed. Meanwhile, a project to construct a new pedestrian/bicycle bridge over the CSX Railroad tracks -- along the old section of MD 118 -- will begin construction in spring 2000.
Once the bridge is converted to a pedestrian/bicycle overpass and closed to motor vehicle traffic, the old alignment -- known as Darnestown Germantown Road since it was built in 1905 -- will be divided into two separate local roads. The portion from Wisteria Drive to the railroad tracks has been renamed Walter Johnson Road and the section from the bridge to Clopper Road has been renamed Liberty Mill Road. The new MD Route 118 will be named Germantown Road.
With a total cost of approximately $37 million, the MD 118 Relocated project has been jointly funded by the County's Department of Public Works and Transportation ($15.8 million), the State Highway Administration ($9.7 million), local developers ($1.8 million) and other sources ($9.7 million), including the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.
Design for the MD 118 relocation project was conducted by the Baltimore-based engineering firm of Rummel Klepper & Kahl. The construction contractor was the F.O. Day Co., Inc. of Rockville.
Release ID: 98-207
Media Contact: Edgar Gonzalez 301-217-2120