Community Corner
US 40 Construction Will Bring Lane Closures, Delays
A new traffic pattern will be in place starting Thursday on US 40 at the Patapsco River Bridge.
The State Highway Administration (SHA) announced Wednesday that there’s going to be a new traffic pattern – and delays coming with it -- on US 40 at the Patapsco River Bridge starting Thursday as part of a bridge reconstruction project.
An SHA release said the traffic will be cut down to one lane on Baltimore National Pike at the Patapsco River Bridge, something that will remain in place until the late spring. Crews will take apart a temporary bridge which kept two lanes of traffic in place in both directions while the old bridge was reconstructed.
Traffic going east had been moved onto the reconstructed bridge on Dec. 20. As long as there are no weather issues, crews are going to move westbound traffic onto the rehabilitated bridge Thursday.
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The SHA said that they’ll prepare for the shift at 9 a.m., with the shift and lane reduction finished by 3 p.m.
“The new traffic pattern marks a major milestone in SHA’s $18 million project to rehabilitate and partially reconstruct the 76-year old historic bridge over the Patapsco River,” the release said “Crews have reconstructed the 335-foot-long bridge from the arches upward, including replacing and slightly widening the deck (driving surface), replacing the parapet walls (barriers on the sides of the deck), and replacing the deteriorated bridge deck supports.”
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The whole project started in early 2011, and the SHA is hopeful it all will be finished by this summer.
The SHA also said that this lane reduction and construction should make drivers look at expecting longer travel times along west-bound direction on US 40 for four to six months. It also said that more than 37,000 vehicles go on US 40 daily, a number that increases during rush hours, and a reduced speed limit of 40 mph will be in place during the work area and until everything is completed.
More information about the project is available at http://bit.ly/us40patapscoriverbridge. Motorists with questions about the project may email SHADistrict4@sha.state.md.us or call the project field office at 410-461-1953 or toll-free at 1-866-998-0367 to reach the SHA District 4 Construction Division.