Slow down: Maryland road projects will slow traffic for weeks — or more

Several road projects in Maryland will slow up traffic for anywhere from weeks to more than a year.

The Maryland State Highway Administration provided details in a statement Friday about projects on the Capital Beltway, U.S. Route 29 and Interstate 270.

On the Beltway, emergency repairs on the Inner Loop on the Northwest Branch Bridge, between New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard, are expected to last through mid-July, the administration said. Major work will start after the Fourth of July holiday and require intermittent lane closures between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays and between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Meanwhile, a project to resurface the southbound lanes of I-270 between Rockville and Bethesda has begun and will last all summer, the administration said.

And on U.S. Route 29 (Colesville Road/Columbia Pike) in Silver Spring, a safety and resurfacing project on the 4-mile stretch between St. Andrews Way (near Sligo Creek Parkway) and Stewart Lane will take until the end of 2021.

Crews are replacing guardrails, which will take about a year. Other work will include storm drain repair, the installation of concrete bus pads and signal work at the intersections with St. Andrews Way and Prelude Drive.

Until the project is done, lane closures in both directions will include:

  • One lane — weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Two lanes — weekdays overnight from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
  • One or two lanes — weekends (intermittently) up to 24 hours a day.

There may also be some temporary sidewalk closures, the administration said.

All this comes as roads in the D.C. area are starting to fill up with workers heading back to the office as jurisdictions move ahead with loosening COVID-19 restrictions, the administration added.

Rick Massimo

Rick Massimo came to WTOP, and to Washington, in 2013 after having lived in Providence, R.I., since he was a child. He's the author of "A Walking Tour of the Georgetown Set" and "I Got a Song: A History of the Newport Folk Festival."

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