Crews to Set Bridge Structural Steel for New Bridge at I-95/MD 5 Interchange; SB I-95 to be Closed for up to 17 Hours; MOTORISTS ENCOURAGED TO AVOID THE AREA           
          
(March 28, 2008) – On Friday night, April 4, as part of the State Highway Administration’s (SHA) $52 million interchange project along MD 5 at I-95/I-495 (Capital Beltway), SHA will begin setting structural steel for the southbound Capital Beltway flyover ramp to southbound MD 5 (Branch Avenue.) The steel placement will require a temporary closure of southbound I-95 for up to 17 hours and a temporary closure of northbound I-95 for approximately six hours, weather permitting. The closures are necessary to ensure worker and motorist safety as 12 twenty-ton, curved steel beams are erected and bolted together directly over the travel lanes of I-95. In addition, five massive cranes needed to lift the beams will be on the I-95 travel lanes, necessitating the total road closures.          
          
SOUTHBOUND I-95 (INNER LOOP OF THE BELTWAY)           
          
• Beginning at 8 p.m. Friday, the contractor will begin closing lanes of southbound I-95, diverting traffic onto the two-lane ramp to Branch Avenue. Motorists will be detoured to a double-left turn onto Auth Road, across the MD 5 intersection and back to southbound I-95.           
• Traffic signal timing will provide the maximum timing for the I-95 traffic being detoured. Major delays are expected along I-95, Auth Road and MD 5 in the area.           
• Two lanes along southbound I-95 should re-open by 10 a.m. Saturday morning, though the contract does allow a total closure through 1 p.m. All lanes are expected to open by 1 p.m.          
          
SOUTHBOUND MD 5 RAMP TO NORTHBOUND I-95          
          
• SHA will also close the ramp from southbound MD 5 to northbound I-95 between 8 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.           
• Traffic will be diverted to the MD 5/MD 337 intersection to access northbound I-95.           
• The ramp traffic must be detoured as the right shoulder along northbound I-95 will be used as a through lane, meaning ramp traffic would have no merge area.           
• SHA suggests either MD 458 (Silver Hill Road) to MD 4 (Pennsylvania Avenue) or MD 414 (Saint Barnabas Road), which both connect to I-95 as an alternate during the ramp closure.          
          
NORTHBOUND I-95 (OUTER LOOP OF THE BELTWAY)           
          
• SHA will close two left lanes of northbound I-95 beginning 8 p.m. Friday night, April 4. Two right lanes will remain open.           
• The three left lanes along northbound I-95 will close beginning at 10 p.m., April 4. The right lane will be open for motorists.          
• ALL LANES ALONG NORTHBOUND I-95 WILL CLOSE between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, April 5. Traffic will be diverted onto the ramp to southbound MD 5 (Branch Avenue) to MD 337 (Allentown Road) to the I-95/MD 337 interchange, where motorists can access northbound I-95.           
• SHA will re-open a single right lane along northbound I-95 at 7 a.m. April 5.          
• All lanes along northbound I-95 should be open by 1 p.m. April 5.          
          
All lanes along I-95 and the southbound MD 5 ramp to northbound I-95 are expected to re-open to traffic by 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 5.           
          
To avoid MAJOR delays, motorists are strongly encouraged to use alternate routes. Motorists from the north traveling through the Washington region to points south are encouraged to use I-495 across the American Legion Bridge. Motorists from the east along US 50 should consider US 301 south, or continue along US 50 to MD 295, which turns into I-295 in Washington D.C. and connects back with I-95 near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.          
          
Local traffic heading south along MD 295 (Baltimore Washington Parkway), US 50 (John Hanson Highway), MD 214 (Central Avenue) and MD 4 (Pennsylvania Avenue) should use MD 295 or US 50 to I-295 into Washington DC. I-295 connects with I-95 near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.           
          
SHA is coordinating with the Virginia Department of Transportation to use dynamic message signs (DMS) to alert motorists to the delays expected along northbound I-95 and divert through traffic along the west side of I-95/I-495.           
          
SHA will use overhead DMS as well as additional static signs along southbound I-95 between the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) and Capital Beltway, southbound MD 295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway), westbound US 50 and along southbound I-95 in Prince George’s County.           
          
In case of inclement weather, the work will be rescheduled. The overall I-95/MD 5 project began in March 2006 and is expected to be completed by summer 2009, weather permitting. SHA’s contractor for the project is Cherry Hill Construction of Jessup.           
          
Citizens who have questions about Branch Avenue, I-95/I-495 or any other State numbered roadway in Prince George’s county, please call SHA’s District 3 office toll free at 1-800-749-0737. SHA encourages all motorists to drive responsibly and “Think Orange” while driving through work zones by driving the speed limit and remaining alert at all times.          
          
          
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