Regional Briefing

Closures for Woodfield Rd. Work

Access to and from Rickenbacker Drive at Woodfield Road (Route 124) in Montgomery County will be closed Saturday as part of the $57.3 million widening project along Woodfield Road between Airpark Road and Rosewood Manor Lane in Gaithersburg.

Crews are scheduled to close Rickenbacker Drive from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. The road at the intersection is two feet lower than the new one and would create a safety hazard for drivers. Crews will work this weekend to raise the pavement at the intersection.

Traffic will be directed to Airpark Road and Chennault Way as alternatives to using Rickenbacker; Woodfield will be open to traffic.

-- Ashley Halsey III

EDUCATION

D.C. School Enrollment Climbs

Enrollment in D.C. public schools stood at 40,179 Wednesday, according to Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's office. That's a bump from the 37,000 that officials reported just before the academic year began Monday.

The increase was attributed to a typical amount of late arrivals and an influx in paperwork verifying students' D.C. residency. The number will continue to be a moving target. The District takes its official count in October and hires a CPA to audit the results, making sure that every student counted has proper documentation.

The official count is usually available in March. Rhee and the D.C Council have established 44,681 -- last year's final audited number -- as its projected population for the 2009-10 school year.

-- Bill Turque