Montgomery Hills Car Wash has permanently closed after 51 years of operation.
The closure of the car wash at 9500 Georgia Ave. and the adjacent Shell gas station, which closed and was demolished last summer, are part of the Maryland State Highway Administration’s Georgia Ave. Safety and Accessibility Project that extends from 16th Street to Forest Glen Road.
The SHA hosted an open house last summer to discuss the project, which is currently in the design phase with right-of-way acquisitions in progress.
Funding for the project’s planning and engineering was paused last fall but reinstated in the final Fiscal Year 2025-2030 Consolidated Transportation Program (PDF) released in January of this year.
The project’s current scope includes:
- Removing the existing center reversible lane and replacing it with a raised landscaped median with dedicated left-turn lanes at Forest Glen Road (southbound), Flora Lane (southbound), Columbia Boulevard (southbound), and Seminary Place (northbound);
- Providing Georgia Ave. with three to four northbound and southbound lanes;
- Reducing lane widths to ten feet, except on outside lanes;
- Constructing a two-way protected cycle track on the west side of Georgia Ave. from 16th Street to the existing bicycle/pedestrian path and bridge at the I-495 interchange;
- Constructing a two-way protected cycle track on the east side of 16th Street from 2nd Ave. to Georgia Ave.; and
- Improving connectivity between residences and local businesses with a new traffic signal and pedestrian crosswalk at the Georgia Ave. intersection with Flora Lane.
More information on the project is available online at the SHA’s Project Portal website.
Thanks to reader Sarah for the tip!