Next Beach Drive segment reopening pushed to Jan. 15

Commuters beware: The weather did not cooperate with the National Park Service’s plans to reopen the another section of Beach Drive this Monday, January 8th.

“Extended cold weather has delayed reopening Beach Drive between Park Rd./Tilden St. & Broad Branch Rd./Blagden Ave,” said the U.S. Park Police in a text alert Sunday morning. (You can sign up by texting “BEACHDRIVE” to 888777.)

The Park Service is now aiming for January 15th, and the warmer temperatures forecast for the coming week should help.

Detail of an NPS map of road closures and detours, beginning January 15th. The top of the map is west, right is north. View the large version on the Park Service’s Beach Drive rehabilitation website.

Judging from the map, it looks like the closed segment of Broad Branch Road between Beach Drive and Brandywine Street will also reopen. However, Segment 3 of the Beach Drive reconstruction, which closed on August 28th, will remain closed to vehicles, bikes and pedestrians from north of the Blagden Avenue bridge to Joyce Road until next fall.

And Ross Drive and Ridge Road will remain closed to motor vehicle traffic until fall 2018. The Park Service says this is for the benefit of bike commuters and recreational users who otherwise would use Beach Drive.

Whie you wait, you can read up on why it’s called Beach Drive.