BETHESDA, Md. — The final plan to make a deadly intersection in Bethesda safer is about to get underway.
On Thursday, residents heard from the state and saw renderings of the permanent improvements coming to River Road and Braeburn Parkway.
The two changes include concrete dividers, which will only allow drivers to turn off River Road onto Braeburn, and a pedestrian traffic light, which will stop traffic for people trying to cross the road at Pyle Road, which is just south of Braeburn.
“We’re trying to accommodate all highway users in a safe and sensible solution,” said Charlie Gischlar a spokesman with the Maryland State Highway Administration.
The concrete dividers will take the place of flexible poles which were installed at the intersection after a deadly crash in February 2016. Thomas Michael Buarque De Macedo, a Walt Whittman High School senior, and his parents, Michael and Allesandra, died after a speeding driver struck the car they were traveling in as it turned on to Braeburn. Buarque De Macedo’s sister was injured in that crash.
The poles, along with flashing yellow lights, warning drivers on River Road of a turning car at the intersection installed in 2017 have helped make the intersection safer according to Gischlar.
“That’s been working,” Gischlar said.
Gischlar said the state plans to begin work on the permanent fixes this summer with completion set for the summer of 2019.
