The highway in Frederick is undergoing a planning study.
Frederick, Md (KM) Citizens will have a chance to review proposed alternatives for improving US Route 15 during a public workshop in Frederick. The Alternative Public Workshop will take place on Tuesday, June 13th from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM at the Governor Thomas Johnson High School cafeteria “It’s basically an informational workshop. Folks will be able to ask project team members about project issues in an informal setting. There will be no formal presentation,” say Barry Kiedrowski, Chief of Project Management for the Maryland Department of Transportation.
He says citizens can look at displays which explain several proposed alternatives to improve traffic flow on Route 15. The study area will be a four-mile stretch of US 15 from the I-70 and I-270 interchange to Route 26.. Traffic in that area of Route 15 has been known slow down to a crawl, especially during morning and evening rush hours as more vehicles use that highway.
Kiedrowski says a number of options for Route 15 include a no-build alternative, along with ‘transportation system management which is basically showing more lower level improvements. For example acceleration lanes and deceleration lanes.” There’s also an alternative to widen US 15 from four to six lanes, “doing widening toward the outside lane, toward the shoulder where you might exit like near an off ramp, or towards the median,” he says.
Kiedrowski says another alternative is to allow motorists to use the shoulders during certain parts of the day.
No decision has been reached on which alternative to pursue. MDOT says funding has been provided for planning and design, and no money has been appropriated for construction.
Kiedrowski says MDOT is “looking to just to provide additional capacity or operational features. Just looking for different solutions to help traffic flow more efficiently.”
The Frederick County Council has picked widening Route 15 from the I-70 and I-270 interchange to Route 26 as its number-one highway priority for 2017.
For more information this project, go on line to www.roads.maryland.gov,and click on Projects. Then type US 15 on the search box, and then click on US 15 Frederick Freeway I-70 TO MD 26 (LIBERTY ROAD).
By Kevin McManus