Free parking at the Del Rey/Auburn Avenue garage

As part of the county's response to CoViD-19, parking is temporarily free at the parking garage that opens to Del Rey Avenue and Auburn Avenue.  They also have created some free curbside pickup zones to help with picking up food from restaurants.  No word on how long this will last.

One question I have though is: How do you violate free parking?  If you try and pay will they ticket you?  I suppose the county has more important things to do than clear up this conundrum.

So I went to the grocery store this morning....

I went food shopping early this morning and I would say there is no reason to panic about empty shelves.  Yes, there were a lot of products that were out, but it seemed to be more about them being able to restock fast enough.  Take the above picture, it looks like there is no bread right?  But it it because there is a shortage or just because the daily bread delivery hasn't arrived?  I believe it is the latter, because if you look closely you see there is bread at the far end of the shelf.  That is the full stocking of Martin's potato bread products (sliced bread and various types of rolls).

While I was there I saw about 8 people stocking shelves.  The two cards on the left of the above picture is full of pasta sauce and pasta noodles, straight ahead is a pallet of flour and sugar.  I also saw a pallet of various types of tomatoes at the front of the store and two employees were getting ready to restock the prepared lettuces and salads.

At the time I was there they only had matchstick cut carrots which was disappointing.

I also found it interesting that there was no organic milk but plenty of non-organic milk.  I don't know if that is a commentary on the people who live in Bethesda or if they had just re-stocked one type of milk and hadn't yet got to the other.

RIP Whittier Woods ES

 The demolition has started on the old site of Whittier Woods Elementary school located on Whittier Blvd in Bethesda, MD.

The building is being torn down to make way for the expansion of Walt Whitman High School next door.  When completed the addition will house a dance studio, five science labs and 18 classrooms and will also have a courtyard area.

This site most recently held Petals Child Development Center, and before that whittier Woods Center / Kenwood Park Children's Center.

The front part of the building is completely torn down, but a significant part of the back of the building remains.

This Saturday the demolition was still proceeding, moving debris and sorting the metal from the rest.

By the end of the day all was quiet and there were piles of neatly sorted rubble.  Bricks in one spot, metal in another, and a big pile of wood and miscellaneous construction bits.  There is still part of the building standing so they are not done.

Construction starting at the WMAL field

For the past 5 years Toll Brothers has been planning on redeveloping the WMAL transmitter field located at 7115 Greentree Rd in Bethesda, MD.  They have developed the plans and gotten the approvals, but there hasn't been much in the line of changes on the ground.

This week there have been changes.  They have fenced off most of the field and were actively working around one of the radio towers when I was there.

The field has long had a path running long the edge making a large 1.25 mile circuit that is popular with runners and dog walkers.  The fence impacts this path in a number of places.  From Greentree Road around to Derbyshire lane there are on or two short stretches where you have a narrow spot between the fence and the brush, but these are easily navigated.

From Derbyshre to Renita Lane the fence is far from the path and doesn't cause any problems.

 However, getting from Greentree road to Renita Lane along the I-495 side of the field requires being a bit more adventurous.  The fence is very close to the brush for the whole length.

  While I was there I did see a local resident trimming back some tree branches, so this route may get easier over the next week or two.

What's next?  Before construction starts in earnest, those radio towers need to come down.  They stopped being used on May 1, 2018 so that is not an impediment.  It looks like that is what they are working on and they could come down very soon.

Fixing up the playground at Stratton Park

 Part of the playground at Stratton Park in Bethesda, MD is closed off for improvements.  This closure is expected to last until the summer.

 The closure only affects the swings and some of the grassy area, the remainder of the playground and the park remain open.

 The reason for this closure is to replace aging sewer pipes.  It looks like they have replaced at least some of the wooden beams that define the playground too.

The tree stump is grinning at me

I went for a hike at Great Falls earlier this year and found this tree stump smiling at me.  Or maybe it isn't really smiling, it could be blood driping down its face.  The mouth is actually a shadow cast on the stump from the short tree at the right of the picture.

Fixing the locks on the C&O Canal

The lock gates on the C and O Canal at Great Falls Tavern have been in pretty bad shape for a while.  That is changing however.  I went there today and locks 16 and 17 have been rebuilt and Lock 18 is in progress.  The towpath is closed between locks 17 and 18, but there is a temporary path on the far side of the canal, so no need to stay away.

There still isn't water in the canal because they are currently working on Lock 19.  Lots of sediment has built up in this section of the canal and it looks like they will dig that out as well.

We've had nice weather for the past week or two and I'm glad I've gotten out to enjoy it.  Hopefully you have been able to spend time outside too.

I'm Walking Down Woodmont

 I went for a walk this morning on Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda to catch up on all the construction.  I'm amazed both at how much construction their is and how long there has been this much construction.  Will they ever run out of places to build?

 Silver Diner and the new Marriot HQ

 Across Woodmont from the metro station.  They are just getting started here.

 The fog was lifting, but the clouds were still  below the top of this building.

Not everything is construction, The holiday spirit is alive and well at the corner of Woodmont and Bethesda Ave.

Fall is here, enjoy it

 I went for a walk on Cabin John trail today, There may be rain in the forecast for tomorrow, but today was a perfect day to get outside and get some exercise.  The leaves on the tree are a wonderful mix of greens, yellows, and reds.

New crosswalk at Sumner Place

The new midblock crosswalk at Sentinel Drive and the shops at Sumner Place has been completed, although construction barrels remain.  The road has also been painted to narrow the lane on the Sumner Place site

  There is a mid-road pedestrian refuge as well as a wide striped crosswalk and new curb cuts.

 One possible issue is access to the driveway into the residental development.  Currently with the construction barrel, cars have to start the turn well in advance of the driveway.  However, even when the barrel is cleared, cars will have no choice but to turn across an area of the road that has been painted to disallow car access.  In the picture above you can see how far in advance the car has to cross to get to the driveway.

Even at night, visibility around the crosswalk is good due to it being directly under a street light.