Road improvements approved for Medical Center-NIH area

Montgomery County planning officials approved a series of road upgrades planned for intersections near the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, which they contend will reduce congestion despite thousands of military workers and new patients descending on the hospital in just over a year.

By widening roads and adding turn lanes and traffic signals along Rockville Pike, Connecticut Avenue and Old Georgetown Road, officials expect to reduce rush-hour delays by 45 percent near the hospital.