Single Lane Closures Begin at 7 p.m.; Shifted Travel Lanes Allow Crews to Begin Bridge Work
(September 18, 2017) – The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) will shift lanes tonight on the US 50 Severn River Bridge as part of the work on the reconstruction project.
Crews will restripe the roadway, shift the travel lanes and install barriers and lighting for the bridge’s work zone. The lane closures are outlined below:
- Eastbound US 50: Monday and Tuesday nights, September 18 and 19
- Westbound US 50: Wednesday and Thursday nights, September 20 and 21
Crews will close one lane beginning at 7 p.m., then two lanes at 11 p.m. The contractor will reopen all lanes by 5 a.m. each morning. Drivers are asked to adhere to work zone signage and remain alert for equipment and changing traffic patterns.
Due to the constrained work zone and to ensure the safety of work crews and drivers, MDOT SHA and Maryland State Police (MSP) will deploy
Maryland Safezones, automated speed enforcement along this section of US 50. The posted work zone speed limit is 55 mph; and drivers speeding by 12 mph or more over the speed limit, or 67 mph or more, face a $40 civil citation after the initial warning period. Where Safezones has been used, excessive speeding has been reduced by approximately 90 percent. Nationally, four out of five people injured in a work zone crash are passengers or drivers, not workers.
The
Severn River Bridge Reconstruction Project includes adding an additional eastbound US 50 lane on the bridge by shifting the existing median barrier, strengthening the concrete deck, connecting the two structures, enhancing the bridge supports and restriping.
Once the work is complete, travelers will use seven through-travel lanes (four lanes on eastbound US 50; three lanes on westbound US 50) from MD 70 (Rowe Boulevard) across the Severn River Bridge to the MD 2/MD 450 interchange. The $22.8 million project is scheduled to be completely open to traffic by Memorial Day 2018.
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