Salisbury Bypass lanes to reopen by summer

On the Eastern Shore of Maryland, tourism is king in the summer.

So, workers are racing to reopen the Salisbury Bypass to four lanes of traffic before the busy tourist season kicks into high gear.

The Maryland State Highway Administration said Tuesday its goal is to shift traffic back to the regular pattern north of Business Route 50 by May 24. A section south of the interchange will remain limited to one lane of traffic in each direction through early summer, the agency said.

The highway has been juggling traffic and construction work since August, when the state launched a $28 million project to rehabilitate 11 bridges along its northeast corridor. The bridges are sprinkled along six locations between Business Route 13 and the Parker Pond bridge south of the Route 50 exit.

The shift is set to begin May 10. That night, crews are expected to reopen one lane of traffic on the northbound portion of the highway, and it will remain one lane in each direction until May 24.

The initial change will require the highway to be closed from 3-6 a.m. May 11, SHA said. Northbound traffic will be made to exit at Snow Hill Road, while southbound vehicles will exit at Route 50.

Traffic will remain one lane in each direction south of 50 to allow work to be completed on the Mount Hermon Road and Parker Pond bridges.

From October 2017 to May 2018, traffic will run bidirectional on the northbound lanes to accommodate rehabilitation of the southbound bridges.

The entire project is expected to be finished by summer 2018.

BACKGROUND: Work on Salisbury Bypass on schedule