Ocean City median project on track for Memorial Day completion

A $7 million project meant to improve Ocean City pedestrian safety is expected to be completed in a little less than a month.

The project, which the Maryland State Highway Administration broke ground on in November, spans a 2.7-mile stretch of Coastal Highway and includes a median fence installation between 62nd Street and Convention Center Drive.

Although there's much to get done in the next three and a half weeks, SHA officials said during an update on Tuesday in an Ocean City Town Council work session that the project is still on track for its promised Memorial Day deadline.

"We're going to move heaven and earth, if need be, to do this," Assistant District Engineer Brett Deane said.

The major portion of the project that still needs to be completed is the paving of the portion of the roadway that has been torn up, which will begin next week.

While it may require longer hours or even a shift to nighttime paving, Deane said there will be two crews in the resort town to ensure the work is done on time.

Beyond the paving, he said the rest of the project is coming along as planned.

All of the fence posts and light poles have been placed, he said, and the first delivery of fence panels is scheduled for this weekend. Placement of the panels is expected to start next week as well.

Some of the projects' landscaping elements have already started appearing and work is underway to get the LED lights in the median hooked up so that they can be turned on in time for Memorial Day weekend.

"We really are getting down to the finish line on this one," Deane said.

Pedestrian safety

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The project's anticipated conclusion was one of the main focuses of the update, but SHA District Engineer Jay Meredith emphasized keeping in mind its underlying purpose.

“The other important thing of it is that none of us lose focus on the reason why that fence is there, and that’s to save lives," Meredith said.

The project is expected to improve pedestrian safety in the resort town, where there were 21 crashes involving a pedestrian in 2017, two of which were fatal, according to the Ocean City Police Department's annual report.

Since 2012, the report shows Ocean City has seen a total of five fatal pedestrian crashes.

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The first fatal 2017 crash occurred during the Cruisin' Ocean City event in May when 23-year-old J.R. Ednie of Virginia was struck at 45th Street and Coastal Highway by a car driven by 51-year-old Stanley Faison of Waldorf.

In January, a jury convicted Faison of multiple charges in connection with the collision, including homicide while driving under the influence of alcohol, and he has been sentenced to serve six years.

A state trooper also struck a pedestrian on Coastal Highway near 76th Street during the weekend of the October Endless Summer Cruisin' Event. Thomas Lawlor, 57, of Ocean City was taken to Atlantic General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Potential expansion

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During the work session, Meredith also addressed the question of whether the project might be expanded in the future, explaining that no commitment has been made yet, but that officials are awaiting the information necessary to make that judgment.

“I think the answer for that is that we really just have to see what type of feedback we get, if it proves to be a safety enhancement," he said. "Once we come to those conclusions, we’ll determine, in conjunction with the city, what further sections that we may look at doing.”

Deane said SHA already has baseline data about crashes and pedestrian crashes that will be helpful in measuring 

It typically takes three years worth of data to do an analysis to determine the effectiveness of a countermeasure like this one, Assistant District Engineer Jana Potvin said, but that likely won't be the case with the Ocean City median project.

“I think at the conclusion of one season, we’ll know at that point whether it’s effective," Meredith said.

What's being done to improve pedestrian safety in Ocean City 

• Lengthening the median left turn lane on Route 528 North at 52nd Street
• Median fence installation between 62nd Street and Convention Center Drive
• Median roadway lighting installation between 62nd Street and Convention Center Drive
• Installation of signage and pavement markings
• Landscaping
• Grinding and paving of existing roadway from 26th Street to 62nd Street

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