Closure and Detour Necessary to Expedite Work and Ensure Safety

(July 20, 2016) – At just 42 feet long the MD 222 (N. Main Street) Bridge over Rock Run in historic Port Deposit may not look like much - traveling 25 mph a vehicle would cross the bridge in a little more than one second!  The small concrete structure has been a critical transportation link along the Susquehanna River for 86 years, contributing to the town’s growth and surviving several floods in the process.

Now, it’s time for a new bridge to take its place.  The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) begins construction next week on a replacement structure that will be as wide as it is long to accommodate roadway shoulders and sidewalk.  Work also includes new stormwater management facilities.  Because the new bridge will be nearly 15 feet wider, crews will construct the structure slightly to the west and realign MD 222.  This enables SHA to provide a wider pedestrian-friendly crossing without disturbing adjacent properties such as the Historic Rock Run Mill.

To expedite the work and ensure the safety of workers and motorists, SHA will close MD 222 at Rock Run to all vehicle traffic for approximately 10 weeks beginning June 16.  Crews will post detour signs directing motorists to use MD 276 (Jacob Tome Highway), MD 273 (Rising Sun Road) and US 1 (Conowingo Road).  Pedestrian access will be maintained across Rock Run throughout construction.

The summer closure allows work to proceed without disrupting public school transportation, reduces the overall project time frame and increases safety by eliminating the risks to motorists that can accompany partial demolition of a bridge with traffic passing through a work zone.  SHA will open the new MD 222 Bridge over Rock Run to vehicle traffic by late August, weather permitting.  An average of 2,700 vehicles travel this stretch of MD 222 each day. See location maps on next page.

 

 

SHA awarded a $2.8 million contract to Richard E. Pierson Construction of Woodstown, NJ.  The existing bridge is structurally deficient and needs to be replaced.  The project is part of Governor Larry Hogan’s $1.97 Billion Investment in Highways and Bridges and plan to repair or replace Maryland’s 69 structurally deficient bridges.