Drivers in Silver Spring, Maryland, who use Sligo Creek Parkway will soon need to find a new way to get around, as an extended closure will be put in place as part of the Purple Line’s construction.
A section of the parkway stretching from Schuyler Road to Wayne Avenue will be shut down 24/7. The closure will last for about two months, with the parkway scheduled to fully reopen just before Thanksgiving.
The closure is expected to take effect in about a month, with signs being posted in the area soon to let people know what is happening.
“Motorists will be diverted on a detour around the closed area of Sligo Creek Parkway,” said Andy Frank, chief of park development with the Montgomery County Parks Department.
“The Purple Line requires many underground utilities, which will have to be installed within the pavement,” Frank added.
Crews will need to reconstruct the intersection at Wayne Avenue and Sligo Creek Parkway.
“While this will all be reconnected smoothly at the end, during the interim period, traversing Wayne Avenue along Sligo Creek Parkway would be very difficult,” said Frank.
A similar closure is scheduled for next year in the spring which will lead to the parkway being closed from Piney Branch Road to Wayne Avenue.
Frank called the closures a “temporary disruption” that will ultimately “improve public transportation.”
Commuters have been impacted recently in other ways due to work on the Purple Line, a light-rail line that will eventually have 21 stations between New Carrollton and Bethesda, connecting Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
For example, the Metro stops at Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen and Silver Spring have all been shut down since the start of June as construction work is completed at the Silver Spring station in order to connect it to a future station for the Purple Line.
Metro said it decided to close additional stations along with Silver Spring in order to carry out broader maintenance, repairs and improvements on the Red Line.
The stations are scheduled to be closed through the end of the month.
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