State transportation officials present draft six‑year plan; commissioners press for action on Route 589 and rural broadband permits

Maryland Department of Transportation acting Secretary Samantha Biddle and a team of MDOT agency leaders briefed the Worcester County Commissioners on Oct. 7 about the department's draft six‑year Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP), outlining roughly $21.5 billion in capital investments and a set of statewide priorities the department says will boost safety and maintenance.

Biddle thanked county officials for prior collaboration and said the draft CTP funds a range of projects across Worcester County, including pedestrian-safety work on Coastal Highway, resurfacing projects, and planning steps for the Maryland 90 Ocean City Expressway corridor. State Highway Administrator Will Pines highlighted resurfacing work on US 50 and US 113, described studies on Maryland 611 and Maryland 611 corridor improvements, and said environmental and engineering analysis will proceed for the Maryland 90 project.

Commissioners pressed MDOT on a longstanding local concern, Maryland Route 589 (Terreville Creek/Atkins area), where residents and commissioners described increasing traffic and safety problems. Commissioner Martino and other board members urged MDOT to prioritize corridor improvements; MDOT officials said fiscal constraints limit near‑term full corridor expansion but officials offered to revisit a segmented, shorter-term approach (intersection improvements, vegetation trimming, targeted safety fixes) and to re-examine prior studies for possible phased work.

Broadband permitting delays were raised by commissioners representing rural constituents who said private providers had told them that state highway permits were slowing deployments along state routes. Administrator Pines said MDOT staff have been working with the Department of Housing and Community Development and with utilities on specific locations, and he offered to follow up with an update by midday. MDOT agreed to meet with county and private provider contacts to identify and expedite outstanding permit requests.

MDOT presented other local actions in the draft CTP: final design steps for pedestrian safety plans on Coastal Highway, ongoing rehabilitation of the US 50 drawbridge in Ocean City, and a Maryland Aviation Administration grant for taxiway reconstruction at Ocean City Municipal Airport. Agency representatives also described state safety grants and transit operating support for Shore Transit and Ocean City operations.

Commissioners thanked MDOT for the presentation and emphasized public-safety urgency where traffic has grown substantially in recent years. MDOT said it would provide follow-up on permit bottlenecks and on additional corridor-level options for Route 589; commissioners asked staff to keep exploring federal funding avenues and to look for short-term safety measures while longer-term planning continues.