Eight are located in Frederick County.
Baltimore, Md. (KM) – Some safety improvements will begin next week on interchanges around the state of Maryland, including eight in Frederick County. “This is our high friction surface treatment project,” says Shantee Felix, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration. “We’ll be applying this to several locations in Maryland. These are roadways we are looking for that have significant curves.”
Under high friction surface treatment, crews will lay down a thin layer of aggregate which is bonded to the road surface with a polymer resin. Felix says it’s intended to improve safety on these roadways. “It will basically be increasing the traction of vehicles on pavement surface that occurs when vehicles drive over wet surfaces,” she says. “So we found the greater the surface friction, the more control drivers have over their vehicles.”
SHA says its crews are expected to begin laying down this material in Montgomery County first, and then move into Frederick County by mid- or late-July. The local interchanges which will undergo the high friction surface treatment are:
- Northbound US 15 (Catoctin Mountain Highway) ramp to westbound US 40 (W. Patrick Street)
- Eastbound MD 144 (Patrick Street) near I-70
- Eastbound and westbound MD 77 (Foxville Road) near the Hunting Creek Bridge
- Northbound MD 75 (Green Valley Road) near Jones Road
- US 40/US 15 ramp to US 15 (Catoctin Mountain Highway)
- Southbound I-270 ramp to eastbound MD 80 (Fingerboard Road)
- Northbound US 15 (Catoctin Mountain Highway) ramp to westbound W. Patrick Street
- Northbound US 15 (Catoctin Mountain Highway) ramp to W. 7th Street
Other interchanges which will undergo high friction surface treatment are located in Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Garrett, Howard and Washington Counties.
“Crews will be working overnight 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM. There may be some lane closures and we’ll be sure to notify the affected community in advance,” says Felix. “So as always we tell people to be safe, drive slower and be alert in that work zone.”
SHA says the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, weather permitting, at a cost of $5.7-million.
By Kevin McManus
