Montgomery plans traffic tunnel near Bethesda Naval
By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
October 7, 2009
Montgomery County officials are seeking millions of federal funds to build a traffic tunnel under Rockville Pike near Bethesda Naval Hospital.
The plans were announced this week at a meeting that included county and state officials, U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-8th District, and invited citizens from the area. The plans were obtained by the Action Committee for Transit, a nonprofit advocacy group that posted its findings on the Greater Greater Washington Web site.
Under the plans, the county would use millions in federal funds to build a zigzagging tunnel beneath Rockville Pike between the Medical Center Metro station and Bethesda Naval. The area is one of the county's most clotted, and officials are anxious because federal reshuffling of military bases will pour thousands of more staff into the area.
County officials declined to release details of the tunnel plans Tuesday, claiming they were the property of Clark Construction, which drew up Monday's presentation.
Any project would have to go through layers of approval, including an open bid period, from the county to the federal government; no ground would be broken for months.
Metro published a study in July saying that the three best options for getting commuters to and from the station to the hospital complex were to build pedestrian walkways above or below ground, or to build a new elevator at the Metro station.
County Executive Ike Leggett endorsed Metro's study in August, but his team has quietly scrapped all three choices and instead is opting for what aides are calling the "multi-modal" car tunnel.
The action committee, which backed the elevator option, is crying foul.
"They're trying to keep it secret until it's too late to do anything about it," ACT leader Ben Ross said. "It's really outrageous."
Ross said the plan was impractical because it would force pedestrians and cyclists to schlep well out of their way and then be "crammed" in the tunnel with cars and trucks.
Montgomery County officials denied that they hid the plan from the public. Leggett aide Jennifer Hughes said the plans were discussed at a base realignment meeting in mid-September and that officials "weren't going to kick anybody out" of Monday's meeting, even if "only some people were told about the meeting."
"It's not a secret," Hughes said. "Those three choices were never envisioned as being the end of the discussion."
Hughes said federal officials favored "multi-modal" projects and "you need to maximize your chances of getting the money."
County Councilman Roger Berliner, D-Potomac/Chevy Chase, said he had "misgivings" about "the process and substance" of the tunnel grants and called for Clark's plans to be made public.
