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Montgomery Mall Quick Links

Welcome!

Welcome to the Wildwood Hills Web, an Internet site serving the Wildhood Hills community. This site is dedicated to keeping residents informed about what's going on in the neighborhood.

What is Wildwood Hills?

We're a small, 50+ year old neighboorhood tucked away in Bethesda, Maryland, just south of Democracy Boulevard near Westlake Drive. It's bounded by Bethesda Country Club to the south and the wooded I-270 right-of-way to the east.

This site was last updated January 11, 2007.

Montgomery Mall

Westfield Shoppingtown Montgomery is planning to expand. More information will appear here very soon. Many have asked for a copy of the Montgomery Mall covenants. Click here to view or download an Adobe Acrobat copy (1.4 MB file).

Traffic calming treatments that could be used on Westlake Drive by the mall are shown here.

Westlake Drive cross-sections proposed by the us and the county (or see the PowerPoint version here).

We're Famous!

The old MacNaughton house on Thomas Branch Drive was the site of two controlled burns by the county fire department in 2005. On both occasions the NBC Today Show filmed the fires for segments on fire safety and the importance of sprinkler systems. The house was prominently featured on national TV, and some residents could even be glimpsed in the background during wide shots! I guess that's our 15 minutes of fame.

Neighborhood Trash

Trash frequently appears in our neighborhood, especially on Bells Mill Road and Thomas Branch Drive. I'm asking neighbors to occasionally pick up litter they see in the neighborhood, whether as part of your daily walks or periodically. Volunteers who want to perform regular clean up duties for the neighborhood or a street, your efforts would be greatly appreciated. Let me (Jack Cochrane) know if you want to help on a scheduled basis. Some days I've been able to fill two large trash bags in just a half hour. Visible litter encourages even more littering as well as loitering, cruising and "parking" (see below) according to the police. Appearance is more than just aesthetics. Trash creates a perception that residents are not watchful, leading to additional problems.

In addition, illegal dumping has occurred at the corner of Thomas Branch Drive and Bells Mill Road, and it takes the county some time before responding to clean up dumped debris.

Speeding

Recently I've encountered some drivers going much too fast through our neighborhood. Often near Christmas or after school, high school kids who don't live here drive around our neighborhood for no apparent reason, sometimes in groups of two or three cars, sometimes stopping, sometimes just circulating. Aside from leaving trash, they often drive much too fast, putting our children at risk.

There is no reason to drive over 25 mph on any of our streets. And in many places, like on the narrow parts of Bells Mill Road or around some of our curves, people must drive even slower to be safe. I think we've all come around the curve towards Westlake Drive only to encounter a fast-moving oncoming car straddling the middle of the road. It's not a pleasant experience. I've also seen people driving 40 mph on Thomas Branch Drive and Bells Mill Road.

Other Unsavory Activity

We frequently see high school-age kids sitting in their cars in secluded parts of our neighborhood both day and night. They don't come here because they like our landscaping. They come because they think they can be alone here, often to drink or worse. Presumably they choose our neighborhood because of its seclusion and convenience to Montgomery Mall. When police have come at our request they've found drug paraphenalia among other things. Those of us living on Thomas Branch Drive often chase away cars full of kids. The police have suggested that when we see such cars (or kids cruising too fast), we take license plate numbers and provide them to the police. The police will send someone out if we ask, but I'm told dispatches regarding a "suspicious vehicle" do not generate an immediate response (typically 2 hours). Note that you don't have to wait around after calling the police unless you want to speak to an officer. One very important reason to call the police, even if it seems ineffective, is that it creates a history of calls that causes the police to devote more resources to our neighborhood, i.e. patrol our streets more often. Providing license numbers also creates a record that is useful if something bad should happen, and the police community liaison has said she would contact car owners (normally parents) if we are especially concerned.

How to Request County Maintenance

To call the county about potholes, trees in the road, burned out street lights and just about any maintenance need that falls under the Department of Public Works and Transportation, call 240-777-6000. DPWT's website is www.dpwt.com . Check out the DPWT streetlight page for streetlight issues. They have a cool map showing streetlights if you click on Maintenance and then Geographic Information Systems, which apparently lets you report dark streetlights online. The DPWT roadway maintenance page also has a nifty pothole reporting form (which allows reporting of missed snow plowing too).

Same Old Request

Let me know if you have any information, photgraphs, or stories to contribute to this site. I'm especially interested in historical tidbits or old photos of Wildhood Hills. Letters and comments on community issues are welcome also. I'll try to post information people send to me. If any of you have ideas or skills you want to contribute, just let me know. You can contact me (Jack Cochrane) at the email address below.

I-270 Noise Barrier Project

Our long awaited noise wall has been built! It was an uphill battle for 14 years, but thanks to the hard efforts of dedicated residents like Eric Eisen and others, the barrier is now in place. Landscaping is also complete, though the trees and shrubs are still pretty small. A few seem to have been inadvertently chopped down by the county during routine mowing.

SHA models predicted a 10 to 12 dB reduction in noise along Thomas Branch Drive. These lower levels are comparable to levels previously experienced in the center of our neighborhood. Some of us have doubts whether the advertised reduction really occurred.

The project pre-construction diagrams can be found here.

SHA built chain link fences at the north and south ends of the wall to keep people off the state-owned I-270 right-of-way.

We had some graffiti on the fence in 2005. The state attempted to erase it but was not completely successful. I propose that we ask the state to plant evergreens (like Canadian Hemlock, which evemtually gets quite tall) in front of that part of the wall.

Links

People

This website is brought to you by Jack Cochrane of 7121 Thomas Branch Drive. I'm also the president of the Wildwood Hills Citizens Assocation. Eric Eisen is "Ex-President for Life" of the neighborhood. For Eric's and my contact info see our contact page.