State Highway officials update Bowie council on MD 197, US 301 projects, trash and traffic-timing efforts

Representatives from the Maryland State Highway Administration briefed the Bowie City Council on June 2 about major corridor projects, maintenance responsibilities and short-term traffic and pedestrian safety actions on state routes that run through the city.

David Rogers, SHA regional planner, told the council that larger projects — including segments of the U.S. 301 South Corridor study and a Maryland 3 widening project covering the Bowie portion from U.S. 50 north — were pulled from the near-term Maryland Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP) for budgetary reasons but “remain in the State Highway’s Highway Needs Inventory,” a long-range planning document. Rogers said the Maryland 197 widening project design will resume in the summer of 2026 (fiscal year 2027) and that the project was 50% through design before budget constraints paused work.

Jonathan Brown, SHA assistant district engineer for traffic, described maintenance and near-term operational items the agency can address. On signage and repairs he said SHA uses a customer-care management system (CCMS) to log issues and generate work orders; “typically, they take between 60 and 90 days to respond to those type of work orders,” Brown said. He said maintenance crews completed a litter “blitz” in April and normally clear trash every four to six weeks, with another blitz expected around the July 4 holiday.

Brown also said SHA is reviewing signal timing concerns raised for Maryland 197 in the Bowie Town Center area and that signal synchronization requires analysis of a corridor-wide network because giving longer greens in one direction can create long queues on cross streets. He reported a speed study along Maryland 197 near South Laurel Drive is underway (performed at the request of a state delegate) and expected to conclude in summer 2025. For Maryland 564 (Ninth Street), Brown said a Wallace Montgomery speed-calming study produced a list of treatments SHA will coordinate with the Laurel maintenance shop, including high-visibility continental crosswalk markings, tubular markers at targeted shoulders to narrow the roadway, replacing stop signs in poor condition and trimming vegetation to improve sight lines.

Council members pressed SHA on alternatives to traditional widening for U.S. 301. One council member urged SHA to pursue nontraditional funding sources, partnerships with academic institutions for AI and data modeling, and federal smart mobility grants under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Rogers and Brown acknowledged limitations tied to revenue declines for transportation programs and said SHA would consider requests for pilot projects and partnerships, while noting past deployments of some “smart” signal technology and inherent limitations of those technologies.

Council members also asked about the pedestrian bridge over Route 50 that connects north and south Bowie; Brown said SHA was still seeking an update and would report back to the city manager once more information was available. Several council members requested quicker interim litter and vegetation responses for high-profile interchanges and urged closer collaboration on planning and scheduling so the city can engage stakeholders earlier in design phases.

SHA officials said they will follow up with the city manager and staff on scheduling, outstanding maintenance items and the status of the MD 197 design work and pedestrian-bridge repairs.