A section of Maryland Route 187 in Montgomery County will have a bicycle lane added this year.
The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration is beginning construction this week on the dedicated bike lane and narrower travel lanes on a 1-mile stretch of Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda, between Cedar Lane and the Capital Beltway.
The 5-foot-wide lane will be built with an added 2-foot-wide safety buffer between it and the travel lanes.
The construction of the bike lane will take place as part of an existing resurfacing project already underway. Intermittent lane closures will continue to take place along Old Georgetown Road weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and overnight Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Work is expected to be completed in the fall.
The dedicated bike lane was approved after two teen bicyclists were struck by cars along the stretch of Old Georgetown Road in two separate incidents in 2019.
Jacob Cassell, 17, of Bethesda, was hit by a car on July 31 and suffered life-threatening injuries after falling from the sidewalk onto the roadway while biking at Beech Avenue. Cassell died in a hospital the next morning.
Following Cassell’s death, At-Large Montgomery County Council Member Hans Riemer made a plea for improved safety options along the stretch of roadway.
On Nov. 8, a 13-year-old girl was struck by a car while riding through a crosswalk near the on-ramp to the Beltway from Old Georgetown Road.
Here’s a map of where the construction will take place.
