Lexington Park, MD — More than 200 people attended the State Highway Administration (SHA) informational workshop on the Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge project. The thought on the minds of many attendees was when is it all going to happen. Many of them sit in traffic every day trying to get over the bridge and for them the answer they hope for is “more sooner than later.” But with the estimated cost of at least $650 million, the real answer may be more “later than sooner.”
St. Mary’s County Commissioner Mike Hewitt [R – 2nd District], who attended the workshop, said he was hearing concerns from his constituents there about how long the project would take to commence. Some of the older attendees quipped to The Bay Net that they wouldn’t be living to see it.
There was no formal presentation at the workshop. Instead SHA’s “Preferred Alternatives” were displayed on maps around the cafeteria at Esperanza Middle School in Lexington Park. Representatives from the state agency were on hand to answer questions.
The project includes a new four-lane bridge, road improvements on both sides of the bridge and a major project at the Routes 4/235 intersection. The major change from previous presentations is at that intersection, where now the preferred alternative is for Route 235 to fly over Route 4, with Route 4 remaining at grade. Before, the project had Route 235 staying at grade and Route 4 tunneling under it.
Another new project would create an access road into the Woodland Acres community. That road would start at the Route 235 light at First Colony. It would go from that light a short distance and then make a left turn behind properties along Route 235. The road would provide a new access for those properties, with their Route 235 access being cut off.
Jay Armsworthy has been a spokesperson for the Woodland Acres residents who are concerned that the existing work on Route 4 is making their ingress and egress from their community an extremely dangerous proposition. Armsworthy was at the workshop and showed The Bay Net the new access road on the map. He said he was told it could be five years for that road to be constructed. It would have to be done with a state/county cooperative effort, since part of the road would be owned by the county.
The new four-lane bridge would be constructed approximately 75 to 100 feet south of the existing bridge. It would have two 12-foot-wide lanes, a four-foot-wide median shoulder, and a 10-foot-wide outside shoulder in each direction. The bridge would also include a 10-foot-wide shared-use bicycle/pedestrian path separated by a barrier on the northbound side of the bridge. Upon completion of the new bridge the existing bridge would be demolished.
On the Calvert County side Route 4 would be widened within the existing grass median to provide a four-foot-wide median shoulder in each direction all the way to the Patuxent Parkway intersection. The new median width would be approximately 22 feet. Due to their proximity to the new bridge span, both the existing exit from northbound Route 4 to southbound Solomons Island Road closest to the Visitor’s Center and the existing entrance from Solomons Island Road to Route 2/4 northbound would be closed. Both would be replaced by a new right-in/right-out access point for Routes 2/4 northbound/Solomons Island Road approximately 1,000 feet north of the closed access. The remaining access points would not be altered.
On the St. Mary’s County side, Route 4 would be widened from a two-lane road to a four-lane divided roadway from Oak Drive to North Patuxent Beach Road, with a 30-foot-wide median. The typical section would consist of two 12-foot-wide- lanes in each direction, 10-foot-wide outside shoulders, and four-foot-wide median shoulders. Two travel lanes would be constructed parallel to the southbound side of the existing roadway to carry southbound traffic. The existing two-lane roadway would be reconstructed to carry northbound traffic. Turn lanes may be added to all intersections along Route 4 in St. Mary’s County. A 10-foot-wide bicycle and pedestrian facility would be constructed along the northbound side. It would be separated from Route 4 by a 10-foot buffer.
The Routes 4/235 intersection would be grade-separated with Route 235 crossing over Route 4 on a bridge. Route 4 would remain at its existing grade. All traffic on Route 235 would be free-flowing without a traffic signal with two lanes in each direction. Ramps would be used to direct all left turns between Routes 235/4 to a single signalized intersection under the bridge which would also control the through movements on Route 4. Route 4 would have two through lanes in each direction. A bicycle and pedestrian path would be provided through the intersection and connect with the county’s proposed Three Notch Trail.
According to information handed out by SHA, the project would involve three residential relocations and four business displacements. The Routes 4/235 intersection work would displace the Bay Center shopping center, but that was scheduled to be eliminated anyway with the construction of a new shopping center behind it. The WaWa would also be impacted. Also, 128 properties would be impacted in one way or another, according to the SHA.
When workshop attendees entered Esperanza M.S. they were greeted by students from Patuxent High School who have created, for the second year in a row, their own bridge designs. The students are members of Eric Heisler’s Advanced Placement English Language and Composition class. The students have received praise for their work from Representative Steny Hoyer, the former chief engineer for the Maryland Transportation Authority and Calvert Commissioner Steve Weems.
Location and design approval for the project are expected this summer. Design funding for the bridge segment of the project has been programmed. Other segments of the project will be broken into phases for design, right-of-way acquisition and construction as funding becomes available.
Commissioner Hewitt said he hoped the commissioners’ opinion would be solicited before SHA makes a final decision on the alternate for the bridge and its access roads.
The public can continue to comment on the project by contacting project manager Jeremy Beck at 1-800-548-5026, by mail at Maryland State Highway Administration, Project Management Division, 707 North Calvert St., Mail Stop C-301, Baltimore, MD 21202 or email at jbeck@sha.state.md.us
Contact Dick Myers at news@thebaynet.com
