The State Highway Administration will start resurfacing work on Wisconsin Avenue through the heart of Bethesda and Chevy Chase on Sunday.
Crews will remove the top layer of pavement, patch, grind and resurface all lanes between Jones Bridge Road and Montgomery Avenue in downtown Bethesda and between Bradley Boulevard and the D.C. line in Chevy Chase.
The two projects will mean up to two lanes closed on Wisconsin Avenue between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. on Sundays through Thursdays and one lane closed between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays.
All the work is weather permitting. The SHA press release indicated the work will last until late fall.
The project, which will also bring reconstructed traffic signals to Battery Lane and Wisconsin Circle, was made possible by the gas tax bill passed earlier this year in the Maryland General Assembly. The gas tax increase will mean $4.4 billion in transportation funding in the next six years, including about $1 billion worth of commitments made to new Montgomery County projects earlier this week.
“When complete, the resurfacing for both projects will increase drivability for motorists who use this critical corridor in Montgomery County,” SHA Administrator Melinda B. Peters said in the release. “We thank motorists and pedestrians for their patience as crews work to complete these projects.”
The work will be loud and disruptive. SHA says it will maintain pedestrian access during the road work.
The agency did acknowledge the ongoing utility relocation project happening on Rockville Pike related to BRAC funding, which has already meant lane closures and uneven road surfaces between Cedar Lane and Jones Bridge Road.
An average of 67,000 vehicles travel on the stretch each day, according to the SHA.
The contractor for the resurfacing work will be the M. Luis Construction Company of Baltimore. Curbside parking in the two areas will be temporarily closed, so plan on parking elsewhere.
