The new Call Your Mother in Bethesda

 

The Call Your Mother trolly on the corner of Old Georgetown Road and Greentree Road in Bethesda, MD has been replaced with a new, much larger, trailer.  The same pastel colors are there but the difference is immediately obvious. When you first see it, all that is visible is a large blank pink wall.

Here's how it looks if you are traveling North on Old Georgetown Road.

The front of Call Your Mother.  Although from the perspective of the road, it is the back.  They open the shutters when they are open for business.

The Old Trolley

The Call Your Mother trolley is back in the corner of the lot. It is much smaller and more cramped than the new food trailer, but it looks a lot nicer and has more character.

I must admit, I'm not a big fan of this change, but I'm open to hearing what you think.

A fall leaf in Bethesda

 

It was a bit misty and gray this morning, which were the perfect conditions for finding this leaf covered in tiny water droplets.

Little Falls robot

 

Over a year ago I first noticed a little blue tent and a solar panel alongside Little Falls Branch stream. I had no idea what it was for, my best guess was some sort of shelter for wayward ducks or a beaver rehab center, but both of those seemed unlikely.  Yesterday I noticed they have a sign explaining it is an automated water monitoring robot that can measure Temperature, pH, Salinity, Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, and Water Flow.  I'm not really sure why it has to physically move to the water as opposed to just having sensors in the creek all the time, but that's how it is.  You can learn more at the Little Falls Watershed Alliance Robot Project. You could also take a look at it yourself, it is located where Little Falls branch goes under Massachusetts Avenue, across from Little Falls Parkway.

St. Elmo Apartments construction

 

St. Elmo Apartments is making progress.  I last wrote about the St. Elmo construction in October.  At that time, it was a big hole in the ground.  Now it is rapidly gaining height.

 

St. Elmo Apartments in context

 

From the top of a nearby parking garage, you can more easily see how tall St. Elmo is and what is around it.  To the left is Bistro Provence and to it's right is Bainbridge Bethesda. When it is completed, it will have 276 apartments and 6,000 sq ft of retail in a 22 story building. It will also have four levels of below-grade parking with 220 parking spots.

On the ground, Fairmont Ave

 

Here is the building at ground level on Fairmont Avenue, there is still a lot of work to do.  On the right you can see the side of Bainbridge Betehsda. The pedestrian alley (or promenade as they call it) that currently exists will be widened as part of the project.

St. Elmo from St. Elmo

 Here is the construction from St. Elmo Avenue. The main entrance will be here.

 

Pla-za gets Pain-ted

 

Pla-za Artist Materials on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda has gotten a paint job. No longer is it plain white, now it is a rich blue.  This comes after their parking lot was resurfaced not long ago.

In adition to seeing the blue wall, you can see part of the newly repaved parking lot.

The side of the store facing Cordell Ave. From this side, the blank blue wall seems a little overwhelming, but still better than the old white wall.  This would be a perfect place for a new mural.

Update on the Fernwood Rd and Democracy Blvd intersection improvements

 

After a burst of activity at the beginning of the month, construction on the Fernwood Rd and Democracy Blvd intersection has been quiet for the last week or so.  There is clearly still work to be done, but now's a good time to check on the intersection construction.

The median between the two sides of Fernwood Road south of Democracy Blvd has been moved to the left a couple of feet. This gives the northbound lanes a little more space which is important since they are converting the two lanes to three lanes (two left turn only and one right turn only).

The median was also pulled back several feet to be further from the intersection.

 

In a few places they had to tear up the sidewalk. Most places they put blacktop down as a temporary patch, but here they jut filled it in with dirt and put a traffic barrel over it.  Not pedestrian friendly at all.

 

S.E. Corner of Fernwood and Democracy

At the Southeast corner, they removed the traffic island that used to be here, you can still see the outline of where it was and traffic barrels block cars from using it.

S.W. Corner of Fernwood and Democracy

At the Southwest corner, they also removed the traffic island.  The patching job wasn't as good and there is a deep pothole on the right side of where the island was.  They also redid the curb here.

N.W. Corner of Fernwood and Democracy

Moving to the Northwest corner, they have mostly removed the traffic island. since the traffic signal is here they have left it with a bit of grass. There are trafic barrels and caution tape around it.

Also worth noting, they removed the "push button for walk signal" to cross Democracy Blvd and you don't automatically get a walk signal when the lights change so you are basically at the mercy of turning traffic when you cross here.  Very pedestrian unfriendly.

 

Median at the North side of Fernwood

The median on the North side of Democracy Blvd was also pulled back several feet. This eliminates the pedestrian refuge so you can't go halfway across the road then have a safe space to stand in.  They do this a lot and I don't like it, I find it much more pedestrian friendly to have the crosswalk go through the median (in an accessible way, of course).

N.E. Corner of Fernwood and Democracy

On the Northeast corner the sidewalk was redone, you can't really see the impact from here, but a different photo will make it more clear. They also have left the island at the turn, I believe this will remain.

N.E. Corner of Fernwood and Democracy

Another view of the Northeast corner, from here, you can see the sidewalk was pulled way back and a concrete area that is slightly raised was put in as a mountable curb for trucks that can't make the turn.

Stop here on Red

Somewhat amusingly, there is a "Stop here on Red" sign where there is no traffic light (and never was). This is at the Northwest corner of Fernwood and Democracy

Solaire 7607 Old Georgetown Road construction

 

Solaire Bethesda will be a 22 story apartment building with 198 unites and a trivial 1,500 square feet of retail space. One thing it has going for it is the location.  Bethesda in general is a pretty good place to be, but this is just across the street from the metro station, so one of those return-to-office people you can catch the subway without any trouble.

Ground Level Solaire

I last posted about this project in February. Since then most of the building facade has been put up.  The best part of this project being close to done is that there is a chance the long term lane closure on Old Georgetown will end.

Solaire Bethesda from Commerce Ln

 

The project is on the corner of Old Georgetown Rd and Commerce Ln, where the La Madeleine french bakery and cafe once was.

The Camile / 7000 Wisconsin Ave construction update

 

The Camile at 7000 Wisconsin Ave in Bethesda, MD is nearing completion.  It is a 14 story mixed-use development with 181 residential studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units.  It should be finished next month

 I last posted about the Camile in January and a lot has been accomplished since then. There is still work going on at street level, but you can really get a good idea of what the building will look like when it is complete.

 

The view from the corner of Sanford St and Wisconsin Ave looking towards the south end of the building. There are no windows here, but there is a gray and white grid on the building so it doesn't look like a blank wall.

 

 

 

Woodward High School construction update for August, 2023

 

My last update on the construction of the new Woodward High School on Old Georgetown Road was back in February, so it is time for another one. To Recap, in Spring of 2021, the old Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School was torn down. A new Woodward High School is being built in the same location. When the first phase is complete, it will be used as a holding school for two years while Northwood High School is rebuilt. Originally, Northwood was supposed to move here for the 2023-2024 school year (as in now), but that was delayed by one year due to fiscal constraints. Now Northwood will use this school for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years and it will re-open as Woodward H.S. for the 2026-2027 school year.  The budget for this project is 196 million dollars. Full details are in the budget.

 I actually like the yellow-and-orange-with-green-lines motif, it's different and fresh.  They are covering it up with bricks though.

There is also some information about the planning for the school on the MCPS Charles W. Woodward High School Reopening Project page.  I find these project pages get some updates early in the process then nothing until the project is complete, so information there is out-of-date.  You can find all my posts on Woodward H.S. here.

Pig races at the Montgomery County Fair

 

If you go to the Montgomery County Fair in Gaithersburg this year, make sure you check out the pig races. The fair runs through Saturday the 19th.