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Hagerstown staff outline state transportation priorities, back I‑81 widening and local pavement plan
Summary
City staff urged continued state support for Interstate 81 widening and outlined local pavement-preservation priorities, pedestrian upgrades and railroad crossing repairs to include in Maryland Department of Transportation consolidated plans.
Hagerstown officials on March 18 told the mayor and city council they will submit local priorities to the Maryland Department of Transportation that emphasize continuing the Interstate 81 widening and funding for local pavement and pedestrian projects.
Transportation staff member Jim Bender told the council the CTP (Consolidated Transportation Plan) is a six-year state blueprint and that the city annually provides a local priority letter. "I think both for the city and the county, the top priority is Interstate 81, trying to continue the widening," Bender said, noting funds that had been pulled for phase 2 were restored by the governor.
The council packet and Bender's presentation also identified several recurring priorities: maintaining highway user revenue that supports the city's pavement preservation program; adding pedestrian lights at about five downtown intersections; continuing work on Dual Highway sidewalks; and resolving the deteriorated Walnut Street railroad crossing. Bender said Park Circle crossings and coordination with CSX and Norfolk Southern remain difficult but important.
On pavement preservation, staff said the program is principally milling and overlay, supplemented by slurry seal and crack filling to extend service life before full repaving. The program is planned by street lists provided to utilities so gas, water and telecom companies can complete service work before paving. Bender said the city will perform a pavement condition survey this spring using instrumented vehicles to prioritize future work.
Councilmembers asked to add priorities including MARC commuter-rail expansion; staff agreed to include those suggestions in the priority letter. Bender said staff will draft the letter and circulate a copy to council members before sending it to the state.
Looking ahead, Bender said the city considers pavement preservation a year-by-year budgeting exercise tied to highway user revenue, and that if funding falls short, candidate streets are moved into later years of the plan.
