Pearl Street Down To One Lane Near Former McDonald's

Pearl Street is now a one-way southbound street between East-West Highway and Montgomery Lane, near construction of a nine-story office building at the site of the former McDonald's.

The new traffic pattern went into effect Wednesday and will last for the duration of the construction project -- about a year, according to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center.

Signage will alert motorists to the new traffic patterns, Patch reported.

The traffic changes will accommodate excavation and construction at the site, where blasting will launch in several weeks. Neighbors can sign up for Alert Montgomery to receive text message alerts about daily blasting activity.

The old McDonald's restaurant on the site was torn down starting last December, Patch blogger Ellouise Schoettler reported.