City officials urge drivers to be patient.
Frederick, Md (KM). It took a lot of motorists by surprise when Frederick City officials closed Monocacy Boulevard between Schiefferstadt Boulevard and Gas House Pike. The City’s Deputy Director of Public Works for the Engineering Department, Tracy Coleman, says the 18-month closure will allow the contractor to make improvements to that stretch of the road to improve traffic flow in the northern section of Frederick. “There just seems to be an excessive amount of traffic there, and that it’s taking longer to commute in that area,’ she says.
The city says the plan is to expand Monocacy Boulevard in that area to four lanes, and build a new bridge over the Monocacy River which will have the same alignment but at a higher elevation. “Because the work follows the same general alignment of the existing road and the roadway will be raised there is no room within the narrow corridor to shift traffic to one side or the other during the demolition and construction of the new road until construction is nearly complete,” the city says in a statement.
Many residents have taken to Facebook to complain about too much traffic and not enough being done. “I think Frederick traffic has become a frustration altogether. A lot more commuter traffic since I lived there and they barley {barely} have expanded anything,” one resident said. “The problem in the County and the City is……BUILD Houses and Stores FIRST THEN we worry about traffic flow and roads,” another post read.
But Coleman acknowledges that road closures such as this take a lot of drivers by surprise. “It’s time for drivers to adjust to closures. So we’re monitoring the traffic and we have been since the closure began,” she says
“We are looking at opportunities where we might be able to adjust existing traffic control.,” says Coleman. “But we’re not going to make any adjustments again until we’re given at least a week or two of closure for drivers to get adjusted.”
Monocacy Boulevard between Shifferstadt Boulevard and Gas House Pike was closed earlier this month.
She encourages motorists to adjust their travel habits and consider taking an alternate route to get to their destination.
Coleman says drivers should think about how the improvements to Monocacy Boulevard will make traffic flow a little easier. “We’re just asking for patience from drivers,” she says. “We think the project itself will be well worth the inconveniences we’re dealing with right now.”
By Kevin McManus