$6.6 million road: Construction to start soon on second phase of Professional Boulevard
By the fall of 2023, drivers could take a new route from Hagerstown to Meritus Medical Center, Hagerstown Community College and other points east of the city.
The Washington County Commissioners this week accepted a $6.6 million bid from Concrete General of Gaithersburg, Md., to do the work.
Part of the work is in the county and part of it is in the city. Construction will be funded by both the county and city.
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Scott Hobbs, county engineering director, told the commissioners that the county will manage the contract.
County officials anticipate that work will begin in October and that the new road and other improvements will be finished by next fall.
The project is Phase 2 of creating a new link from Eastern Boulevard to Yale Drive.
In Phase 1, a bridge was built over Antietam Creek.
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Phase 2 is split into two sections.
The county's portion will be building about 2,500 feet of new road from a traffic circle on Yale Drive to the new bridge, Hobbs wrote in an email late Tuesday.
A sidewalk on the north side of the road will be extended from Yale Drive to the bridge as part of the Phase 2 work, he wrote.
The county's share will cost about $3.43 million, according to the bid documents.
Hobbs said the project will be funded with $1 million in federal funds from the Appalachian Regional Commission, $1.2 million in state aid and $1.23 million in budgeted local money.
The Hagerstown City Council signed off on the project earlier this month.
The city's portion will see the existing Professional Court widened to four lanes from near the bridge to Eastern Boulevard. It also includes some other improvements, such as work on sidewalks, utilities, lighting, drainage and upgrades to Eastern Boulevard.
The city's share will cost $3.18 million.
In an email, City Engineer Rodney Tissue wrote that the money will come from four sources: $1.25 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission, $1.15 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, $600,000 from the city's general fund and the rest from Maryland highway user revenue.
The city council also has agreed to change the name of Professional Court to Professional Boulevard "upon substantial completion of construction," according to the measure adopted earlier this month.
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In Phase 1, the bridge and approaches were built at a cost of $8.9 million using mostly local funding, with $1.1 million in state money for design, Hobbs said.
The county broke ground on the bridge project in 2020. The bridge was completed earlier this year.
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The four-lane bridge is anticipated to handle an estimated 11,000 vehicles a day once it opens, according to a county video presentation.
At the groundbreaking, Emergency Medical Services Director R. David Hays said that, when the final road connection to Yale Drive is finished, the new traffic corridor will likely shave five minutes off emergency service response times from the city's North End to Meritus Medical Center.
It also will provide access to the community college and the Mount Aetna Technology Park that is being developed along Yale Drive.
Mike Lewis covers business, the economy and other issues. Follow Mike on Twitter: @MiLewis.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County awards bid for Phase 2 of Professional Boulevard
