Walt Whitman Principal Says Dangerous River Road Intersection 'Remains Just As It Was'

BETHESDA, MD — Bethesda residents are growing increasingly frustrated with the inaction of the Maryland State Highway Administration concerning the problematic River Road interchange near Walt Whitman High School.

A meeting took place Wednesday night at the Walt Whitman High School auditorium to address the intersection of River Road and Braeburn Parkway.

Principal Alan Goodwin said state officials have made no safety improvements to the intersection, where a speeding Potomac driver crashed into a Bethesda family – killing three family members – in a February 2016 crash.

In November of 2016, seven high school students were also involved in a multi-vehicle collision at the intersection.

See Related: Speeding Driver in River Road Crash Sobs After Manslaughter Plea, Site of River Road Crash That Killed Family Undergoing Changes

“The intersection remains just as it was on the date of tragedy,” Goodwin said, according to WTOP. “State officials have looked at it. They are thinking about doing something to that intersection, but they haven’t done anything yet.”

Goodwin said state officials recently started to install electricity for flashing lights, but poles are still lying on River Road and nothing has been installed.

“I would like some sort of interim solution until they come up with a more permanent solution to add some safe measures to the intersection,” he said, according to WTOP.

“A traffic light would be one step in the right direction. There is a pedestrian walkway not far from the intersection that is problematic as well. They have a lot to study, but they need to do something.”

Community members are also advocating for a lower speed limit for the entire intersection and for the intersection to be relocated about 50 yards away.

According to State Highway Administration officials in August 2016, engineers analyzed the intersection for possible safety improvements and will make these changes:

• Install traffic-activated overhead flashing signs in both directions of River Road when vehicles turn left onto Braeburn Parkway
• Restrict Braeburn Parkway traffic in both directions to a right-only turn onto River Road
• Separate left-turning traffic from through traffic at the intersection

Area residents have said the state’s designs are too cautious, and urged authorities to install a traffic light; SHA officials have said that traffic studies show the intersection doesn’t meet standards to install one.

At a June 2016 meeting about the site, residents recommended moving the intersection to Pyle Road and adding a traffic light.

“A traffic signal at a new intersection of Pyle Road and River would protect the existing crosswalk and the pedestrians as well as the car traffic. We could then close the Braeburn intersection and that would address the problem,” said Richard Boltuck, with the Bannockburn Civic Association.

According to police, the fatal February 2016 crash happened when a BMW traveling west on River Road driven by Ogulcan Atakoglu struck the De Macedo family’s Chevrolet Volt as it attempted to turn left onto Pyle Road.

Otakoglu was driving 30 mph over the speed limit at the time of the crash. He was traveling at 75 mph at that point, but had earlier been speeding at 115 mph on the road, Montgomery County Police said.

Atakoglu, a 20-year-old Potomac resident, agreed to plead guilty to three counts of manslaughter by vehicle,WTOP reports. Court documents say the three counts carry a maximum 30-year prison sentence, but guidelines range from three months to 12 years.

»Photo of intersection from Change.org petition