State Highway Administration officials will be in Chevy Chase on Feb. 19 to show final project plans and discuss a construction schedule for the much-discussed sidewalk project along Wisconsin Avenue’s “Green Mile.”
The state wants to build a 0.7-mile, $1.2 million sidewalk to connect bus stops on the northbound side of Wisconsin Avenue between Grafton Street and Bradley Lane.
Many in Chevy Chase are opposed to the project. Some think it will mean the loss of too many trees in the stretch of road that connects downtown Bethesda with Friendship Heights. The property on the east side of Wisconsin Avenue in the stretch is a golf course.
The project was originally going to mean the removal of 53 trees along the stretch, which borders the golf course of the Chevy Chase Club.
The SHA removed five of those large elm trees in fall 2012 because they were decaying, but said they were going to reevaluate the project tree-by-tree to see if the sidewalk could be worked around root areas. Many of the trees are invasive and unhealthy, SHA officials said at a contentious community meeting in January 2013.
Many Chevy Chase residents and cyclists who use the route spoke up in favor of the sidewalk. Others said they don’t want it simply because it would mean more cyclists.
The Feb. 19 meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the Chevy Chase Village Hall (5906 Connecticut Ave.). Village staff will transmit comments of people who can’t make the meeting to SHA officials. Just email the Village Office at ccv[at]montgomerycountymd[dot]gov.
In November, the SHA announced it would be building three crossings in the area — including one on Wisconsin Avenue at Chevy Chase Boulevard, about halfway between the existing crosswalks at Bradley Lane and Dorset Avenue. There are four bus stops on the northbound side of the Green Mile.
