Four intersections near Bethesda's National Naval Medical Center could get new through- and turn lanes related to the Base Realignment and Closure project, but the improvements may also require property acquisitions, according to State Highway Administration officials.

The SHA was scheduled to discuss the proposed improvements at its meeting Tuesday with the county's BRAC Implementation Committee. There is also a public meeting scheduled from 5:30-7:30 p.m., April 2 at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, 4301 East West Highway. The meeting, while not a legal public hearing, will allow the public to talk with SHA officials and submit comments. No formal presentation will be made at the meeting.

"We're certainly going to listen to all the public input," Andy Scott, special assistant for economic development to Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari, said in an interview with The Gazette prior to the Tuesday night meeting, which took place after The Gazette's deadline.

The intersections at Rockville Pike and West Cedar Lane, and Jones Bridge Road and Connecticut Avenue have been classified as the two higher priority intersections, but also more expensive and technically difficult, according to SHA officials. The two intersections that are considered less expensive and technically difficult but lower priority are Rockville Pike and Jones Bridge Road, and West Cedar Lane and Old Georgetown Road.

"The easiest ones, unfortunately, are not the higher priority ones," said Barbara Solberg, a design engineer at SHA, in an interview with The Gazette.

Properties that could be subject to right of way acquisitions from SHA include the Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart on Rockville Pike, the historic Walter Johnson House on Old Georgetown Road, and residential properties near Connecticut Avenue and Rockville Pike.

Work on the intersections to prepare for the traffic impact of BRAC may not be finished by September 2011, when the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is required to open at the Navy Med campus, said Scott. Altogether, the proposed improvements to the four intersections would cost at least twice the $30 million currently available for the projects, although SHA did not reveal the preliminary cost estimates for each intersection.

The final project may proceed in piecemeal fashion, with only some of the proposed improvements at each intersection being built. The intersection improvements are currently 30 percent designed.

At Jones Bridge Road and Connecticut Avenue, SHA proposes to add one through-lane both northbound and southbound. Currently, there are three in each direction. Five residential property owners along the northbound side of Connecticut Avenue would have to be relocated, according to Solberg, who said the homeowners have already been notified. Sidewalks would also be added around the intersection.

At Jones Bridge Road and Rockville Pike, SHA would add a new left turn lane from Rockville Pike southbound onto Jones Bridge Road. There is currently one dedicated turn lane for cars turning left at the intersection.

"They stop in the through lanes. That just clogs the whole intersection up," Solberg said.

Property could be taken from either the National Institutes of Health or Navy Med, although Solberg indicated that if the Navy Med side is chosen for right-of-way acquisition, homeowners at the southeast quadrant of the intersection could be affected.

At Rockville Pike and West Cedar Lane, which Solberg identified as "a mess" and the intersection most impacted by BRAC, a through-lane would be added on the southbound side of Rockville Pike, and another through-lane would be added on the northbound side. Eastbound on West Cedar Lane, two dedicated left turn lanes would be added to the three existing lanes. Westbound on West Cedar Lane, a dedicated left turn lane would be added.

Navy Med, NIH, the Boy Scouts National Capital Area Council building and Stone Ridge School would be subject to property acquisitions by SHA at this intersection. Retaining walls would also be built around the intersection.

At West Cedar Lane and Old Georgetown Road, a new through-lane would be added to the northbound side of Old Georgetown Road, although the southbound side of the road would not change. Westbound on West Cedar Lane, a dedicated right turn lane would be built, while eastbound on Oakmont Avenue a dedicated left turn lane would be added to the current single lane.

Solberg said the SHA is trying to move the right of way acquisition for the project from the intersection's southeast quadrant, where a Bethesda Fire Department station is located, to the west side of Old Georgetown Road. The change could impact the Walter Johnson House, the former home of Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson.