Controlled Blasts Planned for Area Near the Medical Center Metro Station on October 30

For Immediate Release: Friday, October 27, 2017

On Monday, October 30 between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., weather permitting, a single, controlled, underground blast is planned each day at the Medical Center Metro station in Bethesda as construction continues for the MD 355 Crossing Project. Alarm horns will sound five minutes and one minute prior to the blast. However, three minutes prior to the blast, pedestrians and cyclists will be prohibited from using the east side of Rockville Pike between Wilson Drive and Jones Bridge Road near the entrance to Naval Support Activity Bethesda/Walter Reed National Military Medical Center: Instead, they can use the west side of Rockville Pike, near the National Institutes of Health.  Traffic on Rockville Pike will not be halted during the blast. It is anticipated that very minimal vibrations will be felt and that the alarm horns will be heard only by people in the immediate vicinity.

 

This work is part of the ongoing construction of the Crossing Project at the Medical Center Metro Station, which will establish a shallow pedestrian underpass between the National Institutes of Health and Naval Support Activity Bethesda/Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and deep elevators on the Navy side of MD 355 to the Metrorail mezzanine.  Construction of the Crossing Project will continue through 2021.

 

As construction of the Crossing Project at the Medical Center Metro Station continues, residents are reminded to exercise caution as they walk, bike or travel near the construction zone. Pay attention to all posted signs, walk or bike only on designated crosswalks, sidewalks and paths, and do not walk in the road or in the construction zone.

 

See photos of the construction project online.

Release ID: 17-226
Media Contact: Phil Alperson, Montgomery County BRAC Coordinator 240-777-2595