Posted on 03/27/2019 8:27:21 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Maryland is again seeking federal funds for the second phase of widening Interstate 81 in Washington County.
Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration announced Monday that it submitted two Infrastructure for Rebuilding America, or INFRA, grant applications. One project would widen part of I-81. The other would renovate the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore, so it could carry double-stacked rail traffic.
The application is accompanied a 50-page attachment of letters of support from state officials, as well as business, civic and political leaders in the Tri-State region. A letter signed by Hogan says the grant funding “will position the I-81 Corridor as a national asset for freight movement for the next several decades.”
The I-81 project is the second part of a four-phase effort to widen Maryland’s 12.1-mile stretch of the interstate. The first phase, expected to be completed next year, runs from U.S. 11 in West Virginia to Md. 63/Md. 68 in Maryland.
The second phase would widen the interstate to three lanes in each direction for about 3.5 miles, from the end of Phase 1 to Halfway Boulevard. Along with that work, the project includes extending Halfway Boulevard for about a half-mile west to Md. 63.
The application, the third attempt at a grant for phase 2, puts the total cost at $106 million. The cost breakdown would be:
• I-81, phase 2: $55 million would come from the INFRA grant, $42.6 million from the Maryland Department of Transportation and $1 million from Washington County.
• Halfway Boulevard Extension: $3.8 million would come in federal funds through the Appalachian Regional Commission, $2.172 million from Washington County and $1.35 million from the private sector.
(Excerpt) Read more at heraldmailmedia.com ...
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
PING.
I live here and drive that stretch all the time.
It’s overdue.
A ridiculous amount of accidents [many fatal] happen in that stretch because it’s very narrow and congested.
The exits near the Valley Mall are places that I pray every time I have to get on 81.
Most people have no idea WTF “YIELD” even means and the ramps are either no merge lanes or laid out so crazy you have to either stop before getting on or drive like hell to outrun the massive lines of semis bearing down on you.
So people can move out of Baltimore faster?
CC
For a bike lane I suppose, another rat boondoggle
The bike lane is the one with double yellow stripes. Yeah, that seems safe?
Be careful when you cross Md. on 81. They have speed cameras on that small section...bastards
“The first phase, expected to be completed next year, runs from U.S. 11 in West Virginia to Md. 63/Md. 68 in Maryland”
There should be no way in or out of Maryland...except the pan handle.
You must not live in that area. Baltimore is at least 70 miles away.
That, and 81 runs N/S, not E/W.
:D
No, I do not. Just taking a wild stab at it, and.. being wrong. Guilty as charged.
CC
Amen to that. I get off 81 N at Winchester, take all the sneaky back roads through WV to get to Hancock and 68 W, and off I go into the mountains. I haven’t used the I-81 to I-70 ramps in at least fifteen years. More than once, I almost got turned into a bowl of Cream of Viking Soup trying to get in the right lane.
Lovely RT 11, I reckon?
So many wonderful things to see there.
Nah, we get off and take 522 through Berkeley Springs. An area I remember well. I’d love to buy an acre or so and put a cabin on it. Very simple, rustic, basic. My family had a camp up there - my grandfather owned a parcel on the Cacapon with a 3 BR, two story house, right on the river. I think he picked it up in the 40’s or 50’s. When he passed away, my late uncle inherited it. I remember as a kid in the 60’s we’d go down to camp. He owned a speed boat and we’d go out riding, and my cousins and I would sit on the dock fishing and pull in loads of bluegill and bream - we’d fill a bucket, then walk across the road and pour them into the stone water well in the front yard for dinner. My uncle finally sold it off because the river would flood in the spring, and the water would come up five or six feet into the downstairs. He spent more time and money renovating the living room and kitchen than he did actually getting to use it. But, those were good times to still be living up there. My mother remembers when she was in nursing school and doing training down in Baltimore, Hagerstown was a two-stoplight rural community with a two lane local road through the center of it. I’m old enough to remember when there was no Sidling Hill cut - you had to tackle the mountain the hard way, and that hairpin at the top was a two-handed, white knuckle switchback that required concentration and a 20 MPH speed limit. Now 70 is like I-95 during morning rush.
Do you remember the stone wall as you get into Cumberland, at the bottom of the hill, with all the crosses painted on it for those who didn’t make it?
Used to scare me to death, as a kid.
The road up to the hairpin curve is now something out of the apocalypse.
We take the bikes up there all the time on the way to Little Orleans and there are literally little saplings growing on the centerline.
They haven’t repaved that stretch of 40 in forever, which, for some reason, makes it all the more attractive to me.
The tourist trap right at the hairpin is now someone’s house and even the picnic tables on the “scenic view” side are fallen apart.
It is total Zombieland and I love it. :D
You should see what they’ve done with the old Town Hill Inn...
And I freaking love Berkeley.
I creep around the cemetery taking infrared photos whenever I can.
I hated when they made the cut.
70 went from barely any traffic to the Autobahn after that.
Friday the flatlanders tear west to God knows where and Sunday, they race back east again.
The only thing interesting about the cut is waiting for all that loose shale to crash down.
Every time I go by, it’s worse and the pitiful wire “fence” they put up to stop the rocks is next to useless.
I hang over in the fast line when I have to go through there...and I keep my eyes on the cut.
Only in the construction zones and you *should* slow down because somebody’s dad/brother/husband/son is out working right beside all that hellbent for leather traffic.
If you want white-knuckle, you should ride up the back road to McConnellsburg PA.
Ack.
:D
WOW. I haven’t been by the Town Hill Inn, in say, 30 years. Looks really good. The flatlanders, half of them are citified snots making their way up to their weekend getaways around Deep Creek Lake. I guess someone has to keep the businesses open up there, but that’s another nice ride. Not sure about which rock wall you’re referring to, coming in, is that coming down from the Maryland Ave. exit? If you haven’t seen that in a while, the city finally claimed eminent domain on that row of old houses at the bottom just as you hit the bridge, because someone else came in too fast and drove right into them. This time, the whole shebang burned, so they razed it and put in a parklet. LOL
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