Community receives Indian Head Highway update
Construction, renovations to be completed by summer 2020
The Maryland State Highway Administration expects that it will be finished with the renovations to Route 210 between Indian Head and the Washington, D.C., beltway in two years, county residents were told Sunday.
Representatives from SHA District 3, which covers Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, updated residents on the latest progress on safety and resurfacing projects that are planned along the county’s westernmost link to Interstate 495, as well as a major construction project that is currently underway along Route 210.
The presentation took place during the bimonthly meeting of the Southern Maryland Homeowners Association Federation in Waldorf.
Claudine Myers, chief of District 3’s engineering systems team, explained that three resurfacing projects near the beltway are being considered for funding in the 2019 fiscal year budget: on the northbound side of Route 210 between Livingston Road and I-495, and along Livingston Road and Oxon Hill Road, which feed into Route 210. A resurfacing project at Route 210 and Palmer Road is also being looked at.
Two additional renovation projects are being considered for the 2020 fiscal year along Route 210, from Route 373 (Accokeek Road) north to the Charles County border and from Seneca Drive in Prince George’s County to the Washington, D.C., border.
The cost of each of the proposed resurfacing projects is estimated to be less than $3 million.
District 3 community liaison Christopher Bishop explained that much of the paving work is scheduled to be done during off-peak hours, which are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.
Traffic engineer Peter Campanides said that the project to construct a new interchange along Route 210 at Kerby Hill Road and Livingston Road is just over one-third complete. Barrier walls are in the process of being constructed, and utility and drainage lines are also being positioned. Grading for the wider roadway is nearing completion on the southbound side and has been completed on the northbound side.
Construction of the interchange itself should begin this spring and is expected to be “substantially complete” by the summer of 2020. According to the highway administration’s most recent schedule, that project is expected to be the last one completed along Route 210.
Campanides said that a resurfacing project along Route 210 between Farmington Road in White Hall and Old Fort Road has just gotten underway and should be complete by the end of this summer.
Attendees also raised the issue of traffic safety along Route 210. Ron Weiss, vice president of the Indian Head Highway Area Action Council, reported that SHA’s own statistics show that over 1,500 accidents occurred along Route 210 between 2007 and 2017, with over 22 percent occurring between Pine Lane and Livingston Road.
Five percent of those accidents resulted in severe injuries or fatalities. There was a total of 47 fatal crashes during that 10-year period.
In addition to the projects along Route 210, the SHA representatives also reviewed progress on the road improvement project at Routes 5 and 373 (Accokeek Road) and Brandywine Road that has been underway since 2016.
When completed, Accokeek Road will terminate in a traffic circle that is expected to ease traffic flow between it and Route 210. Access to Brandywine Road from northbound 210 will be made easier by the installation of an offramp. Further up Accokeek Road, a bridge over Route 5 will link to a new ride-sharing lot.
If all goes according to plan, the $55 million project will be opened to traffic next summer. The new design is expected to alleviate the significant congestion in and out of Charles County along that heavily used route.
SHA estimated that an average of 65,000 cars traveled along that stretch of Route 5 every day in 2015. In 2035, that number is expected to rise to over 108,500 cars per day.
During the presentation, Myers and Campanides also took questions from attendees on plans for improving traffic flow on U.S. Route 301, the need for sidewalks and other pedestrian conveniences such as crosswalks along state and county roads, and how to report potholes and other road hazards.
Following the presentation, the members of the homeowners association federation voted to draft and submit to the Prince George’s delegation a letter of support for House Bill 175, which would authorize local jurisdictions to use speed monitoring systems on Route 210 in Prince George’s County to help cut down on accidents.
The Southern Maryland Homeowners Association Federation meets bimonthly at the Colonial Charles HOA Clubhouse on Shadow Park Lane in Waldorf. May’s meeting will feature Charles County Health Officer Dr. Dianna Abney, who will give a presentation on the opioid epidemic.
For more information about the May meeting, call 301-848-3476.