(June 14, 2010) – The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration’s (SHA) District Engineer David Coyne today announced he is convening a technical work group of public safety and transportation experts to discuss the intersection of US 15 at Hayward Road in Frederick County.  The group will review a variety of engineering options to address traffic issues at the intersection and seek consensus on the best alterative(s) to reduce collisions at the site.  Crashes at the intersection frequently involve vehicles traveling northbound on US 15 making a left turn onto Hayward Road conflicting with high-speed traffic traveling southbound on US 15.

“We are committed to the safety of every person on our roads and we share the concerns about this particular intersection,” said District Engineer David Coyne.  “A series of traffic measures are already in place to improve the flow of traffic at the intersection but clearly, more needs to be done to improve conditions in the near-term. Our goal is to bring together local experts in transportation engineering, emergency response and law enforcement to evaluate possible changes and their impacts.  We need to make sure that any action at US 15 and Hayward doesn’t create another safety problem somewhere else.” 

The technical workgroup will convene later this week and consider a full range of options, including closing the left turn as suggested by a number of people in the past several days.  The group will brief elected officials next week on potential options. 

The Maryland State Police (MSP) and Frederick Sheriff’s Office have increased speed enforcement in the area.  In recent years, SHA made numerous safety improvements at the intersection including:

•         Adding rumble strips across southbound US 15
•         Reducing the spacing between pavement markings in southbound US 15 to create the sense the roadway is narrowing to reduce speed
•         Adding signs including a “US 15 Safety Zone Next One Mile” sign
•         Adding a sign “Watch Your Speed Cross Traffic 1500 Feet”
•         Closing MD 355 eastbound approach to US 15 on the opposite side of Hayward Road

SHA is working on the design for the US 15 at Monocacy Boulevard interchange, which will improve traffic safety throughout the corridor. The City of Frederick and Frederick County funded the design phase but construction is not yet funded, so the project will not be completed for several years.
 

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