More Funds Urged For Roads as Navy Hospital Expands

The number of hospital visitors, including patients and relatives, could double to more than 900,000 a year.

"While crows may fly, most people drive, and people will drive to Bethesda," Leggett said yesterday.

At the meeting, Arthur Holmes Jr., Montgomery's director of public works and transportation, outlined road improvements the county thinks will be needed to accommodate the growth at Bethesda.

These include:

¿ Widening Wisconsin between Cedar and Jones Bridge, with turn lanes added at several intersections.

¿ Adding a ramp at Wisconsin and Cedar, which Holmes called "a major bottleneck."

¿ Adding turn lanes at Connecticut and Jones Bridge.

The naval hospital requires Metro riders to cross busy Wisconsin. County officials want to add a tunnel or pedestrian bridge to improve access.

Montgomery also wants to use park-and-ride lots with shuttle service to the hospital, including existing lots at Interstate 270 and Route 124 and at Rockville Pike and Montrose Road, and a proposed lot at the Capital Beltway and Connecticut.

But, Holmes said, the county's bus system is operating at capacity. He suggested that military might have to operate the shuttle buses.

Longer-term solutions include building the proposed Purple Line connecting the Bethesda and New Carrolton Metro stations and constructing a ramp from the Beltway onto the naval hospital property, Holmes said. Building the ramp would be "very difficult" because of the proximity of other interchanges on the Beltway and acquiring the needed land, he said.

"Clearly, the roads in this vicinity are already struggling," he said.