Update: Maryland Avenue Reopened, Courthouse Closed

Maryland Avenue has reopened, but the new District Courthouse in Rockville Town Center is closed Wednesday as work continues to repair a sewer blockage.

The work "may cause intermittent delays" in traffic around Town Center, the city said in a news release.

Original, 7:30 p.m., Aug. 2: 

The City of Rockville is advising motorists to expect traffic delays in Town Center on Tuesday evening as crews work to repair a sewer blockage at the intersection of Maryland Avenue and W. Jefferson Street.

Maryland Avenue between Fleet Street and W. Jefferson Street (MD 28) was scheduled to close at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The street will be closed until further notice. No left turns are allowed from Maryland Avenue onto W. Jefferson Street.

Sewer overflow coming from the new District Courthouse created a wet spot on Maryland Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, said city spokeswoman Marylou Berg.

“At 6:30 p.m. [city public works department crews] need to get in there and figure out what’s going on,” Berg said.

If the problem is not remedied before the morning, “There is a possibility that the courthouse would have to close,” she said.

The backup is affecting the courthouse, but not City Hall, Berg said. City Hall sewers drain on the opposite side of the hill that the municipal building shares with the courthouse, she said.

is across Vinson Street from the new District Courthouse, which opened Monday.

Since the courthouse’s opening, the area of Town Center near City Hall and the courthouse has seen an increase in vehicle and pedestrian traffic, Berg said.

“We’ve had some people trying to park in the City Hall parking lots,” she said of the visitors to the new courthouse.

City employee parking at City Hall is sectioned-off by gates. Visitors must park in designated spaces and register their vehicle at one of the service desks inside.

Click here for District Courthouse directions and a parking map.

City police also have been monitoring pedestrian crossings at Maryland Avenue and W. Jefferson Street, Berg said.

“We’ve had some unsafe crossing,” she said.

Meanwhile, the city on Monday began a 10-day span of temporary daytime closures of another street near Town Center. Great Falls Road, is closed from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The road connects Maryland Avenue and West Jefferson Street.