Town of Chevy Chase officials are questioning the safety of a proposed bike path that would allow cyclists to use an alternate route to the Capital Crescent Trail's tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue.

They argue that the path along 47th Street and Willow Lane would shift more bikers to the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue, Willow Lane, and Bethesda Avenue without creating any additional on-street safety improvements at Wisconsin Avenue.

Without the safety improvements, the alternative path would exacerbate the intersection's current problems, such as the danger of pedestrians crossing Wisconsin Avenue being struck by cars turning north onto Wisconsin Avenue or Willow Lane from Bethesda Avenue, according to Long-Range Planning Committee Chairwoman Pat Burda.

"Unless they re-engineer the Wisconsin-Willow intersection, it's going to be a real mess," Town Council Vice Mayor Rob Enelow said.

A county traffic and safety study along Wisconsin Avenue being reviewed by the State Highway Administration and the Montgomery County Department of Transportation recommends specific improvements for the intersection.

The path, which has been proposed by the county's Department of Transportation, is designed to be 6 feet wide on the west side of 47th Street and the north side of Willow Lane, hugging the northwest corner at the two intersections. The portion of the path on 47th Street requires approval from the town.

The path on 47th Street would be intended for southbound cyclists moving against the northbound-only traffic on 47th Street. Northbound cyclists would share the road with cars on 47th Street. Westbound bikers could use the Willow Lane path, while eastbound bikers could share the road with cars.

The proposed path would create an on-street bike facility open 24 hours a day, reduce the number of road-user conflicts by having bikers move against traffic, and reduce the number of pedestrian and biker conflicts in Elm Street Park, according to Bruce Johnsten of county DOT in a February letter to Mayor Kathy Strom.

The path is meant to connect with a planned off-road shared-use path along Bethesda Avenue. But the shared-use path has been postponed until a mixed-use development at the southeast and southwest quadrants of the intersection of Woodmont and Bethesda avenues is finished. There is no firm completion date yet for the development.

Following debate about the path at the town's April 22 council meeting, Enelow said that without corresponding improvements at Wisconsin Avenue, bikers on the new path would simply add to the unsafe atmosphere at Wisconsin Avenue and Willow Lane.

A recent county traffic and safety study on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda between Montgomery Avenue and Leland Street showed multiple safety concerns at Wisconsin Avenue's intersection with Bethesda Avenue and Willow Lane.

The study recommended installing a "Turning Traffic Yield to Pedestrians" sign for northbound and southbound traffic on Wisconsin Avenue, a "One Way" sign at the entrance to Willow Lane, and closing access to the Montgomery Farm Women's Cooperative Market from Wisconsin Avenue.

The problems at Wisconsin's Avenue intersection with Bethesda Avenue and Willow Lane are not unique, said Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center Director Ken Hartman, who helped to organize the study.

"Universally, it found issues with crosswalk marking, with signal timing, with lead time with pedestrians," Hartman said of the study.

County spokeswoman Esther Bowring said some pedestrian improvements at Wisconsin Avenue would need to be considered with the bike path in mind.

"There's a commitment to go ahead with this bike (path)," Bowring said.

Hartman noted that the bike path along 47th Street and Willow Lane was conceived in the 1994 Bethesda Central Business District Sector Plan as one of several possible bike routes in Bethesda. He also said the path is not intended to replace the tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue.