State officials say funding for the project is in place.
Frederick, Md (KM) After years of discussion, there’s finally some movement on the US Route 15 Road Improvement Project. That’s the construction of a third lane in each direction along the highway between Interstate 70 and Maryland Route 26 in Frederick. . The State Highway Administration says the funding for the project is in place.
John Delaney, the Project Manger, says the preliminary design work is expected to wrap up soon. He also says 65 percent of the design work could be completed by 2026..
Part of the project includes utility relocation. “That includes both overhead utilities and underground utilities. That coordination is on-going and we expect to continue that coordination at locations to start sometime this year,” he says,.
The installation of an Intelligent Transportation Systems to better monitor traffic congestion will also be part of the Route 15 project. “Part of that will be to install traffic monitoring places throughout the corridor to help traffic flow more smoothly, and help end emergency response situations,” says Delaney.
Noise walls will also be installed. “Part of the reason we’re proposing noise walls is because we are widening the roads,” Delaney says. “We also have a lot of residents in neighborhoods who are very close to the roadway. So we understand the noise impacts of the roadway on those residences. So we are mitigating some of those noise impacts.”
The other features of this project are widening the bridges to accommodate additional travel lanes, upgrading drainage and stormwater management, and planting new trees and scrubs
SHA says construction work is expected to begin in 2028. But Delaney says property owners along US Route 15 may notice some work connected to the project starting soon. “So we’ll have crews on the site in the coming months for soil boring. We’ll have a crew out there for that as well as some other data collection such as video pipe inspection or utility designation,” he says. “And, again, the utility relocations are expected to start soon.”
Delaney says the additional lanes north and south for this stretch of US Route 15 are expected to be taken from the already existing medians in the roadway. . But he says SHA could end up taking some land from alongside the road. However, it will provide compensation to property owners along this stretch US Route 15 if that’s the case.
By Kevin McManus