Stimulus money saves some Shore road projects; others hit the brakes

SALISBURY -- The good, the bad and the ugly in annual state funding to Lower Shore counties for capital projects were delivered by Maryland transportation officials who toured the region Tuesday.

Good news includes federal stimulus money that kicked in to offset some local cuts after the state capital budget for transportation projects was slashed by $2.5 billion over the last two years, state Transportation Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley said Tuesday night at a meeting in Wicomico County. In all, stimulus money for roads equals about $6 million for Wicomico County, more than $4 million for Somerset and more than $6 million for Worcester County.

"One bright spot is the stimulus package," Swaim-Staley told a group of about 25 people at a forum to review the state's Consolidated Transportation Program draft for the 2010. "Much of the money is on the street, retained jobs and created new money. That's been a bright spot."

The bad, state transportation officials told a group in Princess Anne at a meeting on Somerset County projects, is the loss of a roundabout at UMES Boulevard and Somerset Avenue. The department also was forced to cut some of its road resurfacing projects, but later was able to add them back on the list thanks to federal stimulus funds, Swaim-Staley said earlier Tuesday at a meeting of the Somerset County Commissioners.

Good news for Worcester County means that after more than a year of skewed traffic patterns and road delays, the latest four-lane section of Route 113 is almost finished, state transportation officials said at a meeting with Worcester County Commissioners on Tuesday morning.

The newly widened highway between Hayes Landing Road and Goody Hill Road is set to open to motorists later this week, and finishing touches will be made on the 2.5-mile stretch through the end of the year, said Neil Pedersen, administrator of the Maryland State Highway Administration.

"It's about 90 percent complete -- probably more -- as of today," Neil Pedersen, administrator at the Maryland State Highway Administration said Tuesday, adding that work on the next section will begin as soon as it's finished.

The ugly, said Pedersen, is that come spring or summer, state cuts will begin to show themselves in potholes, uncut grass and other inconveniences.

"We will start to see reduced amounts of mowing ... and filling pot holes and drainage maintenance," Pedersen told an audience at the Wicomico forum. "We will see effects in the upcoming spring and summer."

Orange barrels may appear ugly, but they symbolize roadway progress, Donnie Drewer, the State Highway Administration district engineer for the Lower Shore, told the Wicomico County gathering. The barrels will soon line North Salisbury Boulevard in Salisbury where work to replace and rehabilitate a bridge over Route 50 should begin in early November -- a $4.5 million project that will temporarily eliminate turn lanes until completion, likely by next August.

In Worcester, even the approval of the state first slots license to Ocean Downs Racetrack was not enough to move the expansion of Route 589 up the state's list of priorities. Pedersn said that the plan is to eventually make the road a four-lane divided highway.

And while track owner William Rickman will have to make some improvements to accommodate the traffic generated by the facility, there is currently no state money for further construction. The project has been delayed, at least in part, Pedersen said, because the commissioners have always made the dualization of Route 113 their priority.

Commissioner Virgil Shockley said that isn't the case anymore.

"It's not just slots -- it's the people on the other side of the road, the people moving through there," Shockley said. "Life goes on. Simply because we have slots there doesn't mean everything else in Worcester County stops. Route 113 is a priority, but things have changed."

Next summer in Somerset, SHA plans to replace a small bridge on Rehobeth Road over Puncheon Landing Branch. The work will require closing the road for about five days and is estimated to cost $771,000, Pedersen said.

SHA is currently putting the final touches on a new bridge over Monie Creek on Mount Vernon Road that opened this past summer.

The new 55-foot span has 8-foot-wide shoulders and cost $2.3 million, Pedersen said.

Upcoming projects for Worcester County

• Route 113 dualization, Goody Hill Road to Massey Branch -- $14.6 million for construction next year
  
• Route 50 bridge replacement -- $150,000 for planning this year; no construction funds
  
• Route 113 dualization, Massey Branch to Snow Hill -- $1 million for engineering this year. No construction funds
  
• Route 589 improvements -- $900,000 for planning this year, $834,000 for planning next year; no construction funds
  

Upcoming projects for Wicomico County

• On Powellville Road, resurfacing to the Worcester County line over Adkins Mill Pond -- stimulus funding of $417,000
  
• On North Salisbury Boulevard, a bridge deck replacement and improvements over Route 50 business, work to start in November -- $4.5 million
  
• On North Salisbury Boulevard, Route 50 business to London Avenue resurfacing, holding project until drainage work is done -- $203,000
  
• Wicomico projects also include $3.1 million for drainage improvement on North Salisbury Boulevard north of Bridgeview Street to Zion Road. With the city of Salisbury, $225,000 will go to a bike path along the Phase 2 portion of the Northeast Collector Road project.
  

Upcoming projects for Somerset County

• Replacement of Monie Creek Bridge on Mount Vernon Road — $2.3 million
  
• Replacement of Puncheon Landing Branch bridge on Rehobeth Road — $771,000
  
• Resurfacing of Route 13 from north of the Wicomico line southward to Sam Barnes Road in Westover — $2 million
  
• Resurfacing of Route 413 from Tulls Corner Road in Marion Station to the Annemessex River bridge at Kingston — $783,000
  
• Resurfacing of Antioch Avenue in Princess Anne from Somerset Avenue to end of state maintenance — $260,000