A list of transportation priorities released by Park and Planning calls for widening River Road from the Beltway to the District line.
The report is the first Development Approval and Congestion report prepared by Park and Planning staff. The list of prioritized projects will be transmitted to the County Council and County Executive.
The report breaks the priorities into four lists: Projects of Regional Significance, State Construction Priorities, State Planning Priorities, and County Project Priorities.
The closest item to Potomac is the final item under State Planning Priorities, which calls for widening River Road.
The section of River from the Beltway to the district line is currently four lanes. The plan calls for studying the possibility of expanding it to six.
The possibility concerns some residents. During the Potomac Master Plan process, there were many, such as County Executive Doug Duncan (D), who wanted to widen River Road in Potomac from two to four lanes.
The Master Plan, however, specifically retained Potomac's two-lane road policy. Currently, River narrows from four lanes to two just inside the Beltway, west of Seven Locks Road.
George Barnes, president of the West Montgomery County Citizen's Association, fears that by widening River Road up to Potomac, it increases pressure to widen it inside Potomac. This traffic pattern becomes a concern "anytime you've got a road expansion that stops," he said.
Barnes also notes that once the road crosses into Washington, it becomes two wide lanes, again. "What about in the District? It's just basically a wide street," he said.
The report, goes into detail about the number of cars that go through certain intersections along the stretch and how those intersections exceed standards for congestion.
The report notes that the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Master Plan states that the road should not be widened during its time frame, which runs through 2010.
However, the report acknowledges that there may be problems with the idea. It suggests that some of the widening could take place along the inside of the road, by cutting into the median, "but right of way is tight throughout the corridor, and a determination would have to be made after detailed study," the report said. "These potential community impacts cause the project, although a priority, to be ranked lowest on the list."