Red Line Returns Monday as Crews Begin Removing MD 355’s Temporary Bus Lanes

The Red Line shutdown between North Bethesda and Friendship Heights ends this weekend, and the temporary bus lanes that carried its replacement shuttles down Rockville Pike and Wisconsin Avenue start coming out the same day the trains come back.

The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration said Thursday it will remove about 7.5 lane-miles of temporary bus-only lanes on MD 355. Beginning Labor Day, Monday, September 7, the lanes open to all vehicle traffic, and the work to take out the lane markings and signs begins the same day.

What Changes Monday

Metro’s Summer 2026 Red Line Major Construction closed the line between North Bethesda and Friendship Heights from July 6 through September 6. Grosvenor-Strathmore, Medical Center and Bethesda stations have been shut the whole time, with free shuttle buses running in their place. Normal Red Line service resumes Monday, September 7, and the shuttles end with it.

The bus lanes go the same day. Removal work runs from Labor Day through September 11, with crews working overnight to take out the lane markings. The new striping restores the on-street parking the lanes had displaced.

What Metro Was Building

The two-month closure was scheduled around a second mezzanine at Bethesda station, which Metro is building to connect the Red Line with the MTA Purple Line. Crews also rehabilitated the platform at Grosvenor-Strathmore, replacing slab edges and tiles, adding lighting and modifying drainage, and maintained the raised railway that carries the tracks over Rockville Pike between Grosvenor-Strathmore and Medical Center.

Why the Lanes Are Not Staying

The lanes were built as a temporary measure, but there had been talk of keeping part of them. Del. Marc Korman, a District 16 Democrat who chairs the House Environment and Transportation Committee, wrote in a post on Facebook that “there was some discussion of keeping the partial bus lanes north of the Beltway beyond the shutdown,” but that “the data does not support doing so.” He said signage would come down and the paint would be changed after the lanes reopen, which tracks with the state’s schedule.

Korman is the only source for that account. The State Highway Administration’s alert says nothing about whether keeping the lanes was considered, and neither the agency nor the delegate has released the travel-time or ridership figures behind the decision.

The state has posted background on the lanes, including why they were installed, on the project’s website.

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The full traffic alert from the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration follows.

**TRAFFIC ALERT**STATE HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION TO BEGIN REMOVAL OF TEMPORARY BUS LANES ALONG MD 355 (WISCONSIN AVENUE) IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Lanes Will Open to All Vehicle Traffic on Labor Day

(September 3, 2026) – The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration will begin work next week to remove approximately 7.5 lane-miles of temporary bus-only lanes on MD 355 (Wisconsin Avenue). Starting on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, the former temporary bus-only lanes will open to all vehicle traffic. The work follows completion of Metro Rail’s Summer 2026 Red Line Major Construction project in Montgomery County, where the temporary bus-only lanes supported free shuttle service between North Bethesda and Friendship Heights stations. The State Highway Administration thanks our customers for their patience during the temporary shutdown.

Work to remove the bus-only lane and signage will start on Labor Day and continue through September 11. Crews will work overnight to remove lane markings. The work includes striping that will restore the original on-street parking.

For more information about the removal of the temporary bus-only lanes along MD 355 (Wisconsin Avenue) and about why they were used, visit the project’s website.

The Moore-Miller Administration and the State Highway Administration are Serious About Safety, pursuing a commitment to advance transportation improvements that drive safety goals and save lives. For a list of all major State Highway Administration projects, news and travel information, roads.maryland.gov.

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