SHA to Temporarily Reduce US 1 Bridge from Four Lanes to Two Lanes in Early June; Travel Delays Expected; Commuters Advised to Plan for Extra Travel Time or Use Alternate Routes This Summer and Fall           
          
(May 19, 2009) – The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) is beginning a project to replace the bridge carrying US 1 (Belair Road) over Little Gunpowder Falls at the Baltimore/Harford County line. The State’s contractor for this $4.8 million project is American Infrastructure, Inc. Construction work at the bridge site will begin next week and be should be completed late fall 2010, weather permitting.          
          
The US 1 bridge project includes removing and replacing the bridge, and roadway realignment work in the vicinity of the bridge. The new bridge will be 107 feet long, and will carry four lanes of traffic. The roadway alignment will be shifted approximately 20 feet west to reduce the sharpness of the curve. Other work on the project includes:          
          
• Removing three existing buildings adjacent to US 1;          
• Constructing a new drainage system;           
• Installing a new gravel parking lot and trail for the Gunpowder Falls State Park;           
• Constructing pedestrian access to the trail underneath the bridge; and           
• Installing roadway and trail signing.           
          
This project will be done in two phases with long-term, 24-hour lane closures and traffic pattern shifts to create a safer work zone while parts of the bridge are under reconstruction and closed to traffic.          
          
In the first phase of construction, beginning on or about Monday, June 1, SHA will reduce US 1 from four lanes to two lanes, one in each direction, for approximately eight months. When the first part of the new bridge is complete, the four-lane traffic pattern will be restored. SHA will provide advance notice to area residents and motorists of the new traffic patterns. Approximately 23,000 vehicles travel along Belair Road at the Baltimore/Harford County line each day.          
          
During construction work, additional temporary lane closures in the vicinity of the bridge (between New Cut Road and Reckord Road) may occur daily between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday; between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Friday; and nightly between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. No temporary lane closures will occur between 2 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Sunday.           
          
For more information about highway construction activities along US 1 north of Kingsville, citizens may contact SHA’s District 4 Office – Construction Division at 410-321-2820, toll free at 1-800-962-3077 or by email at shadistrict4@sha.state.md.us.          
          
During the next several months, there could be more than 350 work zones along Maryland’s highways. Remember that work zones are not only large construction projects possibly taking years to complete, but include smaller, mobile operations such as mowing, pothole repair and litter pick ups. Choose Safety for Life and make work zone safety your business at www.choosesafetyforlife.com.           
          
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