ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan today joined Howard County Executive Allan H. Kittleman and Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) Administrator Greg Slater, as well as state and local officials, to announce the start of construction for the $37.5 million MD 32 widening project in Howard County. This long-awaited project will improve safety and relieve congestion, benefitting thousands of travelers who drive the MD 32 corridor. Following through on the commitment to improve mobility in Howard County, the new 2.5-mile project widens MD 32 from a two-lane undivided highway to a four-lane divided highway between MD 108 and Linden Church Road in Clarksville. Howard County contributed $16.5 million for the construction phase of the project.

 

“More than 30,000 vehicles travel along this two-lane road every single day, and for many people, the improvements we are making along this corridor are personal,” said Governor Hogan. “Too many have experienced the severe congestion common here in Howard County, and some people have lost loved ones in fatal crashes. This two-lane road is simply not built to handle the volume of traffic. Beginning today, that is going to end. The state is answering your call, and we are going to finally break the bottleneck on this busy highway.”

 

To complete the project by fall 2018, MDOT SHA advertised the project using “A+B bidding,” an innovative cost-plus time approach to securing a construction contract. This approach assigns a cost to each working day, ensuring that the public impact and time of construction are considered part of the determination for award of the project. The State’s contractor is Concrete General, Inc. of Gaithersburg, which won the bid by committing to complete the project by fall 2018. Design is underway for the next 6.5-mile section (Phase II) between Linden Church Road and I-70 with construction scheduled to begin fall 2018 on Phase II.

 

“As anyone who drives along Route 32 can attest, this is one of the most congested and dangerous roads in the region,” said County Executive Kittleman. “We’re fortunate to have a partnership with Gov. Hogan and Secretary Rahn who are both committed to improving safety and alleviating the gridlock in this heavily traveled corridor.”

 

Crews will begin work in the next few weeks by installing: barrier wall, work zone roadway signage, erosion and sediment controls, and performing vegetation management and clearing. The MD 32 widening project will be completed in phases to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction along this busy roadway. MD 32 will see an increase of average daily traffic from 30,000 to 52,000 by the year 2040.

 

As MD 32 construction begins, improvements on the US 29 Corridor have reached another milestone. Highway construction crews recently completed the $35.5 million widening project between Seneca Drive and MD 175, which Howard County contributed $2.5 million toward for the design and engineering phase.