Staff photo by EMILY BARNES
Traffic is backed up headed south on Crain Highway during evening rush hour in La Plata on Thursday.
Damaged roads on U.S. 301 and Route 234 have had a profound impact on many of the county’s citizens’ daily lives and major activities.
Impacts range from longer commutes for residents to lost business for farmers to delays for police officers.
A bridge over Allens Fresh Run on Route 234 that collapsed following flooding from Tropical Storm Lee has added a lot of time for commuters.
People who used Route 234 have to use a detour set up by State Highway Administration from U.S. 301 to Route 6 to Route 236 to get to the other side of Route 234.
Becky Kuhn, who lives in Cliffton on the Potomac in Newburg, said the bridge outage has added between 15 and 25 minutes to her typical 40- to 45-minute commute to Patuxent River Naval Air Station.
“Route 234 was our lifeline,” Kuhn said, as the family also has used the road to visit her parents in Leonardtown.
Kuhn said she has made adjustments when necessary, like using Bel Alton Newtown Road or Penns Hill Road to get around traffic on Route 6 or U.S. 301.
Her husband, Brian Kuhn, who teaches chorus at Henry E. Lackey High School in Indian Head, also has had to deal with traffic on U.S. 301, she said.
Repairs continue on a washed-out area on U.S. 301 south of Route 6 on the southbound side, and are expected to be complete in early October.
SHA constructed an access road in the median of southbound U.S. 301 so that one lane of traffic can go through.
The repairs are expected to cost $600,000 to $700,000.
Kuhn, however, said she rather would have a long commute than no road in and out of her neighborhood.
In the aftermath of flooding from Tropical Storm Lee, a washed-out area on Cliffton Drive prevented residents from getting in and out of the neighborhood.
Kuhn said she wanted to commend the county for acting so quickly on the crater that cut a hole through the entrance to the neighborhood.
“Considering the hand they were dealt, their response was fantastic,” Kuhn said.
The compromised bridge on Route 234 will have a temporary bridge installed, which is expected to be completed by mid-November, according to SHA.
A permanent bridge is in design phases, due to be complete in late 2012 at a cost of $3 million, according to SHA.
The Route 234 bridge outage has caused more than a longer route for people.
Several wheat farmers use Route 234 to get to the Wicomico Grain Elevator in Charlotte Hall, Charles County Farm Bureau President Pat Wathen said.
Wathen said the collapsed bridge has been an inconvenience for the farmers.
Dentsville resident Melissa Gardiner said that when she picks up her son, Aaron, 13, from football practice at La Plata High School, getting back home takes forever.
“The light at Penns Hill Road [and Route 6] was backed up to the Zekiah Swamp,” Gardiner said about her Monday trip home from football practice.
The backup distance was approximately 1.4 miles.
On one occasion, a journey from the light at Route 488 and Route 6 to County First Bank on Centennial Street in La Plata took 10 minutes, Gardiner said.
“I try to avoid La Plata as much as possible,” Gardiner said.
Gardiner said she is also concerned about the safety at the light at Route 6 and Penns Hill Road.
“People fly around on the outside. They don’t wait for people making left-hand turns,” Gardiner said.
Diane Richardson, spokeswoman for the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, said that members of the sheriff’s office were scheduled to meet with representatives of SHA to discuss strategies to alleviate traffic on state and county roads.
Information from the Tuesday meeting was too late for this edition.
In addition, the sheriff’s office is working with the county’s Department of Public Works and other agencies to work out the traffic issues.
As for the impacts on making service calls, “there have been some delays for service calls, but they are not significant,” Richardson said.
As for advice for drivers, Richardson said that drivers should “slow down, take precautions and adjust their commuting plans.”
Additional traffic issues might come today, as Washington Avenue in La Plata will be paved from Talbot Street to Caroline Drive from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
One lane will be paved at a time in order to maintain two-way traffic, according to a county news release.
The release also states that flaggers will direct traffic and that drivers should expect delays on the road.
La Plata Town Manager Daniel Mears said that U.S. 301 and Kent Avenue are alternative routes that drivers can take around Washington Avenue.
pwarner@somdnews.com