State Highway Administration outlines Maryland 6 (Charles Street) redesign, including plazas, lighting and waterline work
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Summary
State Highway Administration project manager Sean Boyle presented a conceptual redesign of Maryland 6 (Charles Street) that includes roundabouts, medians, sidewalks, a 10‑foot shared‑use path and two potential plaza areas; SHA said it would construct plazas and lighting under the highway contract while La Plata would likely own and maintain them under future MOUs.
State Highway Administration project manager Sean Boyle told the La Plata Town Council that the Maryland 6 Charles Street Community Safety and Enhancement project is in advanced design and aims to improve pedestrian safety and downtown character. The plan includes geometric changes at US 301 slip ramps, multiple medians to support emergency access, two roundabouts (one “dog‑bone”/peanut style and one mini‑roundabout at Oak Avenue), continuous 6‑foot sidewalks, a 10‑foot shared‑use path, high‑visibility crosswalk striping and landscaping.
Boyle said SHA is also proposing two conceptual plaza areas intended to create a Main Street public‑gathering space in front of local businesses; the front‑of‑store plaza between Graves and Oak avenues and a second conceptual plaza at the Port Tobacco Players Theater. Under the model SHA described, SHA would construct plazas and pedestrian lighting under the highway contract and La Plata would own and maintain those elements afterward; the town would also likely share some of the ongoing operating costs in a negotiated MOU. "With this MOU, we would be looking at having La Plata own and maintain the plaza areas and for SHA to do the construction on them," Boyle said.
Boyle and Lindsey Bovian, SHA’s project management lead, said the project schedule began in August 2023, reached 65% design in June 2025 and was approaching 90% design with a target to finish 90% in December 2025, 100% plans by November 2026, and a planned notice to proceed to a contractor in April 2027. They emphasized the schedule is preliminary and that construction phasing and pre‑construction outreach would be coordinated with the town and businesses. Kimberly Tran, SHA district engineer, said a district community liaison typically coordinates daily outreach with businesses and that staff would host a pre‑construction meeting a few months before work begins.
The presentation also raised an opportunity to coordinate waterline replacement with the road work. Boyle and town manager Chuck Stevens said the town is pursuing replacement of unknown‑material waterlines under a federally required lead‑pipeline replacement program and that consolidating excavation into a single dig would reduce community disruption. "We just want to do one dig," Stevens said, describing the lead replacement as a federal mandate and urging coordination so a newly reconstructed road is not later excavated for utility work.
Council members pressed SHA on maintenance responsibilities, long‑term community feedback and potential impacts on emergency response and downtown businesses. SHA officials repeatedly identified funding availability as the principal risk to full delivery and said programmatic cost‑sharing and future MOUs would determine how many plaza or lighting features are included.
The presentation was informational; SHA staff said no council decision was required that evening but that MOUs and formal agreements may be brought to council at a later date if the town chooses to accept ownership and maintenance responsibilities.
Next steps: SHA will continue design work, update the town project portal with design materials, and follow up on MOUs and cost‑sharing details with La Plata staff before seeking any formal council action.
