Widening sidewalks on Battery Lane

 

Apparently it is really hard to move utility poles, lots of different utilities (power, telephone, cable, etc) use them and getting everyone lined up to put new poles in and move everything takes forever and is very expensive.  Because of this, in older areas of Bethesda you sometimes see utility poles sprouting in the middle of the sidewalk. This is bad because it makes hard for disabled people to get around, as well as people with strollers or little kids.  One solution, which the county uses from time to time is to make the sidewalks a little wider so you still have a full sidewalks width between the end of the pole and the grass.

 

Battery Lane in Bethesda (shown here) is one of those places with sidewalks impaled with utility poles.  Just today I saw that they are working around that by widening the sidewalks in those areas. All down the north side of Battery Ln, around each of the utility poles, they have made the sidwalks just a little bit wider.

4909/4915 Auburn construction update

 

Auburn Ave construction site from above

It has been six months since I last gave an update on the construction of 4909/4915 Auburn Avenue in Bethesda, MD.  At the time, it was just a hole in the ground, but a lot has happened since then. Here you get a good view of the extra-tall first level and can see the second floor is partially complete.

V Nails and construction

V Nails on the corner of Auburn Avenue and Norfolk Avenue with construction behind it.

A view from the back

This is the back driveway to the Auburn Avenue construction site. It opens onto Norfolk Ave

Formerly this site was occupied by the Auburn Professional Building which was torn down October of 2021. When complete, the development will have 180 dwelling units and 12,500 square feet of "non-residential use".  It will be called 4909 Auburn Avenue Apartments.

The sunbeam is going the wrong way

Last night I saw this sunbeam peaking through the clouds and it caught my attention.  The issue is that it is going the wrong way. The sun isn't in the top right of the photo, it is off to the left.  This isn't the sun peaking through the clouds at all.  I found it highly confusing but after some contemplation, I believe it is the sun reflecting off a body of water and back up onto the clouds.
 

The moon on a spring evening

 It's a beautiful night and the moon is almost full.