Earth Moving on Watkins Mill Road Extension

First the box turtles and the foxes moved out. Then the bulldozers arrived. And by next summer, traffic could be flowing on an extension of Watkins Mill Road that will take the highway a step closer to connecting with Interstate 270.

Work began in mid-July on a $7.7 million project that will extend the road from its current terminus at Frederick Road southwestward to the state's right of way for I-270, said Timothy Cupples, chief of transportation construction for the Montgomery County Department of Transportation.

The six-lane extension will include a sidewalk, a bike path and street lighting. This phase of the extension project won't connect the highway across I-270 but did include land acquisition so that the state may one day build an interchange at the interstate.

The interchange—a $250 million project—is in the state's plans, but with state transportation dollars scarce, there is no telling when it could be built, said Valerie Edgar, spokeswoman for the State Highway Administration.

"It s a priority right now for the county," Edgar said. "Unfortunately it's a big project."

When completed, state highway planners hope the interchange will ease congestion at I-270 and Route 124 (Montgomery Village Avenue) and at Route 355 (Frederick Road) and Route 124, Edgar said.

It would also provide direct access from I-270 to the Metropolitan Grove MARC train station, she said.

BP Realty Investments, LLC, which dedicated the right-of-way for the current segment of the extension, will cover 22 percent of the cost of the latest phase, which is due to be completed next summer. 

BP Realty is building the mixed-use Spectrum at Watkins Mill on a 40-acre site that will include the road extension and has already constructed a four-lane road from west of I-270 to east of Clopper Road.

In a three-way agreement with the City of Gaithersburg and the county, BP Realty also agreed to set aside land for a 6^th District station for county police, Cupples said.

The project does not rely on federal funds. Signs near the site denoting a project funded by the federal American Recovering and Reinvestment Act refer to the resurfacing of Frederick Road.

"Right now we're on budget," Cupples said of the extension project.

Before construction could begin, the county partnered with the Humane Society of the United States—whose campus abuts the project site—on a wildlife management plan.

That included—with help from Humane Society staff—relocating box turtles and prodding foxes to move out of dens on the property, which is bordered by woods.