Improvements to the five-way intersection at Connecticut Avenue, Jones Bridge Road and Kensington Parkway in Chevy Chase are one step closer to reality with the recent release of $18.3 million in funds from the U.S. Department of Defense to the Maryland Department of Transportation's State Highway Administration.

The funds will help get this congested intersection—just south of the Capital Beltway—in better shape to serve nearby medical campuses (the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the National Naval Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health). Ever since Walter Reed moved to Bethesda in August 2011, traffic has been heavy in the area.

"Our community is proud to be the home of the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center," Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Kensington) said in a statement.

"This funding will help [reduce BRAC-related congestion]. It’s a win-win for everyone and key to making a successful transition at the new Walter Reed," Van Hollen added.

This is the second set of funds released for specific transportation improvements to help ease traffic problems on roads leading to the Bethesda medical campuses. Last August, Montgomery County was awarded a $40 million federal grant to fund a pedestrian underpass and high-speed elevators to connect Walter Reed with the Medical Center Metrorail station, Bethesda Patch reported.

Both sets of funds are part of the nearly $90 million set aside last year by the Office of Economic Adjustment, an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, for BRAC-related transportation projects in and around Bethesda, Chevy Chase Patch reported.

Two more grants are expected to be awarded to Maryland for traffic-mitigation issues surrounding the new Walter Reed location, according to a news statement from the offices of Van Hollen, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD).

Altogether, improvements to the Chevy Chase intersection at Connecticut Avenue, Jones Bridge Road and Kensington Parkway will cost about $23.1 million. In addition to the $18.3 million defense department grant, $4.8 million in other funds will be used to complete the project, the statement added.