Maryland Gov. Hogan pledges $15 million to relieve beach congestion on Route 90, known for summer backups

Gov. Larry Hogan announced that $15 million in funding Monday that will be funneled to the Route 90 — also known as the Ocean City Expressway — to help relieve Maryland’s summer beach traffic.

The investment will allow the State Highway Administration to begin planning and designing improvements to the highway as families pile into their vehicles and head to the ocean.

With the beach season already underway, Hogan also has his eyes set on reducing wait times along both the east and westbound spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The governor made a stop Friday in Queen Anne’s County to announce plans to spend $28 million for the next step study of solutions to resolve congestion along the 22-mile bay bridge corridor.

The funds will go toward a four-year Tier 2 National Environmental Policy Act study of potential improvements, including no-build alternatives or additional infrastructure projects. The draft environmental impact study, or Tier 1 study, was completed in April and recommended focusing on the existing corridor.

Hogan said both projects are a continuation of former Gov. William Donald Schaefer’s “Reach the Beach” effort to modernize Maryland’s infrastructure and increase beach access during summer months.

Both of Hogan’s announcements come as schools wind down the 2021-22 school year. Monday marked the fourth day of the governor’s six-day tour of the Eastern Shore, where he has made stops in Cambridge, Salisbury and the Maryland Municipal League Conference at the Ocean City Convention Center. Hogan was to deliver the keynote address at the conference Tuesday afternoon.

During his keynote address at the 2021 Maryland Association of Counties Summer Conference at the same convention center, Hogan said the state’s Consolidated Transportation Program would include $850,000 toward the planning phase for Route 90 improvements. Monday’s announcement pushes the project closer to its design phase.

A virtual public meeting to answer project-related questions will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 21 by the Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration.

Built in the 1970s, Route 90 is a 12-mile stretch of road that connects the northern end of Coastal Highway on the island of Ocean City to Route 50. It includes two spans that cross the St. Martin River and Assawoman Bay. Preliminary plans for the project indicate both bridges may be expanded.

Route 90 also serves as an access to the Ocean Pines, Bishopville and Showell communities, and is a hurricane evacuation route.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors funnel their way into Ocean City through Route 90 from Central Maryland and beyond every summer. According to a June 7 news release from the Maryland Department of Transportation, Ocean City-bound traffic can back up over 7.5 miles on busy summer Saturdays from the highway’s intersection that releases into the town at 62nd Street.

“By moving forward on a new Chesapeake Bay crossing and with the modernization of MD 90 — the Gateway to Ocean City — we will be providing a safe, efficient, 21st century transportation system for the Eastern Shore, which will allow us to continue to grow our economy, and which will ensure that Marylanders and visitors alike can enjoy all that Ocean City and the Eastern Shore have to offer,” the governor said in a statement Monday morning.