Safety Improvements designed to Improve Traffic Flow and Safety

(June 20, 2016) – Today, the Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) will begin a $2.9 million project to widen and resurface each direction of MD 140 (Taneytown Pike) between WMC Drive and Royer Road in Westminster.  Weather permitting the project will be complete spring 2017.

Crews will widen MD 140 to create a second through lane on eastbound MD 140, a distance of more than one-half mile.  Other work on the project includes:

• Installing a bicycle lane on MD 140;

• Milling (removing the top layer of asphalt), resurfacing and restriping MD 140; and

• Constructing 750 feet of concrete barrier on westbound MD 140 near Meadow Branch Road.

SHA’s contractor, L.W. Wolfe Enterprises, Inc. of Myersville, will use cones, barrels and message boards to guide the nearly 24,275 vehicles per day safely through the work zone.  Motorists can expect daily single lane closures and occasional lane shifts from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Bicycles are prohibited on MD 140, in this area, during construction. A signed bicycle detour will be posted.

While SHA and its transportation partners work hard to maintain safe traffic mobility in work zones, each driver needs to actively modify his or her driving style to help prevent crashes. Stay alert and look for reduced speed limits, narrow driving lanes and highway workers.  Slow down and don’t follow too closely. Work Zone Safety is in Your Hands.

A complete listing of current roadway projects is included in e-Road Ready 2016, the online brochure. Maryland drivers can also know before they go by calling 511 or visiting www.md511.org for live traffic updates, including construction delays and lane closures. Those who have questions about SHA projects in Carroll County may call the SHA District 7 Office at 301-624-8100, toll-free at 1-800-635-5119 or send email to shadistrict7@sha.state.md.us.