Purple line construction update, Silver Spring

 

Wayne Avenue at Fenton Street

The intersection of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street is closed in all directions for construction of the Purple Line light rail.  Here are the barricades across Wayne Ave. 

Dug up Wayne and Fenton

This is what the intersection of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street looks like right now. There road has been torn up where they are putting in the light rail tracks. 

Tracks to the Silver Spring Library Station

The light rail tracks curve away from Bonifant Street and go towards the library.  The tracks are fully installed, but the rest of the road needs work. 

Tracks on Bonifant Street

The light rail tracks on Bonifant Street where they curve towards the library. 

Crossing Georgia

Here is where the Purple Line light rail tracks cross Georgia Avenue. They are fully installed in the street, but the other side of the road still needs tracks. 

Spring Street bridge replacement

I went to see how the Spring Street bridge replacement is going.  This bridge is being replaced so that the Purple Line light rail can go under Spring St.

Where the bridge was (Feb 2025)

All that is left of the old bridge is a few concrete columns sticking up into the air.  On the right, you can see new columns being built that wil support the future bridge. This is on the east side of the bridge, the railroad tracks are closest to the camera and the metro tracks are on the other side.

The bridge in August 2024

This is how things looked last August.  Frankly, it doesn't look too different.  Those same 3 columns are poking up between the metro tracks and the train tracks.  On the far side you can see there is a full row of supports that have since been removed.  This photo was taken from the west side, so here the metro tracks are closest to the camera and the railroad tracks are on the other side.

The approach to the bridge (February 2025)

This is the eastern approach to the Spring Street bridge. There is construction material staged along the left side and a larch crane is at the top.

 

The approach to the bridge (August 2024)

Here is the same section of Spring Street last August. Notice the difference?  The crane visible in the distance is on the far side of the bridge and there is nothing staged in the road.

A wider shot

Here's another shot of the bridge construction.  A metro train happened to come along right as I was taking the photo.

White Oak Apartments construction

I last mentioned the White Oak Apartments back in February. At that time they were in the process of demolishing the building.  Here it is November and they have made rapid progress.

 

 The building closest to the road is at it's full height and the roof is being put on. The buildings behind it have a ways to go.

This is on the site of the old Gannett USA Today National Customer Service Center located at 2240 Broadbirch Drive in Calverton, MD, though it sounds like the developers are optimistically considering it part of White Oak.

This will be a residential development with 359 units in a 5 story building and two buildings with two-over-two development that contain 28 units. There will also be some public open space on the left side of the lot. You can view the planning board presentation for White Oak Apartments here.

This is either a maximum security prison, or it is the parking garage of the 5 story building. If it is the latter, I would expect them to build the apartments around this core. I have seen that done in other places.

White Oak Town Center construction update

 

White Oak Town Center is a new strip mall / shopping center going in on the corner of Prosperity Drive and Industrial Parkway just off US 29 (Colombia Pike / Colesville Road) at the border of White Oak and Calverton in our fair state of Maryland.  I last posted about the White Oak Town Center development in March and a lot has changed since then.

If you are driving north on Columbia Pike, this is your first view. It is the corner of Industrial Parkway and Prosperity Drive (which is the access road that runs parallel to US-29). The tower in the center will be the shopping center sign and will have a clock at the top and the base will hide dumpsters for the development.

 

This space is for a grocery store. I don't know if one has signed up yet.  Originally it was going to be Trader Joes, then Amazon Fresh, but both have backed out.

 

On the side of the grocery store building is a large mural and a sign with the shopping center name.  The strip mall is arguably in Calverton, depending on where you put the fluid boarders of White Oak and Calverton, White Oak isn't a town, it is unincorporated, and in any case it is no where near the center of White Oak, so, every single word in the name of this strip mall could be considered wrong.

Here's a view of the parking lot and an access road. You can see that all the curbs are in, most of the decorative trees have been planted, and everything is ready to be paved.  This is close to being done.

 

 

White Oak Town Center construction

White Oak Town Center (staff report here, it has the best overview) is a new strip mall being built on the site of a former industrial building at the corner of Industrial Parkway and Prosperity Drive in the White Oak / Calverton area of the half of the county called Silver Spring.
 

 The full development, with the one-story building in the background that is reported to be the future location of an Amazon Grocery store. in the center you can see the steel skeleton of what will become a monumental sign/clocktower/dumpster at the southwest corner of the development.  Next to it is a plaza with seating area where visitors to the shopping center can have a variety of experiences and enjoy the sights and sounds of Columbia Pike / U.S. Route 29. Closer to the camera where there is currently just a pile of dirt, there will be an accent wall.

 

White Oak Town Center as seen from Industrial Parkway

The view of the new construction from across Industrial Parkway near U.s. 29. The intersection with Prosperity Drive is immediately to the left and is very close to the intersection of Industrial Pkwy and Columbia Pike. This isn't an issue now since Prosperity Dr near the site is lightly used, however, with additional traffic this is likely to become a point of contention between users of the two roads both trying to enter Columbia Pike.

Future Grocery store

This is the northwestern end of the site, Prosperity drive is in the foreground and in the distance on the left you can see the sign for the Westech Corner strip mall at Tech Road. The building under construction will house a grocery store.

I'm not sure we need another strip mall when Westech Corner is within sight and has over half a dozen restaurants, and Orchard Center is only a mile away with Giant, Aldi, Target, and Kohl's. But, I'm not the planning board, and if they think we need another shopping center with a big parking lot instead of affordable housing a short walk away from a Flash bus stop, who am I to disagree.

development from the "spine" road

This is the low, one-story building that will have space for 3 retail stores. The road in the foreground is the "spine" road that will connect Industrial Parkway to Tech Road.

The view of the new construction from across Industrial Parkway near U.s. 29. The intersection with Prosperity Drive is immediately to the left and is very close to the intersection of Industrial Pkwy and Columbia Pike. This isn't an issue now since Prosperity Dr near the site is lightly used, however, with additional traffic this is likely to become a point of contention between users of the two roads both trying to enter Columbia Pike.

 

8787 Georgia Avenue construction

 

The construction of 8787 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring. The building is full height and covert in a white Tyvek wrap.  When finished it will have 376 residential units and up to 32,000 square feet of retail space including a Mom's Organic Market.  This site used to be the location of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Headquarters (M-NCPPC) for the Montgomery County Planning Department and had a large surface parking lot.

 

The front view of the new 8787 Georgia Avenue currently being constructed with an estimated completion date of this Fall. There are two buildings that will be connected to each other and there will be underground parking, this is the west building, there is also one to the east.  You can view the Preliminary Plan and Site Plan here.

 

 

White Oak Apartments construction, 2240 Broadbirch Dr

 

Demolition of the old Gannett USA Today National Customer Service Center located at 2240 Broadbirch Drive in Calverton, MD (or Silver Spring for those of you who insist on calling half of Montgomery County that) has begun. This is the building that is set back from the road and has four giant satellite dishes in front of it.

This will be replaced by a residential development with 359 unites in a 5 story building and two buildings with two-over-two development that contain 28 units. There will also be some public open space on the left side of the lot. You can view the planning board presentation for White Oak Apartments here.

The property being developed is across the street where the entrance is.

Blocked sidewalk

Even though the demolition is nowhere near the sidewalk, the construction site has blocked the public sidewalk forcing you to either walk through the heavy grass between trees or walk on the busy road.

More blocked sidwalk

A good view of how the sidewalk is blocked without any notice part way down the block. There is no good reason for them to have disrupted pedestrian traffic in this way.

The existing satellite dishes with the building partly demolished behind them

Purple Line Construction

It looks like construction of the purple line is pausing due to the state and Purple Line Transit Partners feuding over cost overruns and delays.  Because of that, it is likely that views such as these will be a part of our lives for quite some time.

These are the bridges that will carry the Purple Line (left) and the Capital Crescent Trail (right) over Colesville Road.

Intersecting girders

Transit center construction fire

Today around 5:30pm there was a very smoky fire at the transit center construction site next to Silver Spring Metro Station. The fire department was quickly on the scene and put it out. A couple of ambulances showed up, one left with its lights and sirens on, I saw them loading an empty stretcher back onto the other one so it looks to me like there was a single injury.

Have a blast in Silver Spring

Proof that the Silver Spring Transit Center is progressing: Beginning Monday, February 22 (weather permitting) and continuing for 4 to 6 weeks there will be blasting. This blasting will generally start around 11am and continue through nap time (2pm).

Those in the immediate vicinity of the site may hear a 30-second air horn five minutes before a blast occurs, and then three short horn tones five seconds before the blast explosion. Within about a minute of the blast, a 15-second all clear horn will blow once the Master Blaster verifies the completeness of the blast.

What a great job title "Master Blaster". You can read the full press release.

Woodside Park renovation

Woodside Park's much needed renovation/overhaul/remodeling is in full swing. What was once a bunch of broken down playground equipment is on its way to being a shiny new play place.
This part of the playground has partially installed equipment and no surface yet.
One of the play areas is complete and open for use. Bundle up and see how a slide feels when it is below freezing.

It looks like they have only been working on the playground areas so far, not the rest of the park. They are planning on putting a small skateboard area in but haven't started that.

Woodside park is bounded by Georgia Ave, Spring St, and 1st Ave in Silver Spring, MD

Cameron House construction

Cameron House is an apartment building under construction on Cameron Street, just east of Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, MD. When completed it will have 325 apartments and pretty small 7,330 square feet of retail in it.

This picture was taken on August 10th, you can see that the exterior is mostly completed. There is other construction in the area and the road in front of it is closed and has been for a while.

Silver Spring Civic Center construction

Construction of the civic center in downtown Silver Spring, MD is proceeding, a lot of the steel girders are now up. It is on the corner of Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street. (photo taken by G. Edward Johnson on July 7, 2009).