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Dualization work ramps up for spring 2019 finish

(Dec. 29, 2016) Each year, the state ask counties to submit a ranked list of its transportation priorities for the next year, and every year for about the past 20 years it’s been the same in Worcester: Route 113 dualization.
The road, which narrows from a four-lane divided highway to just two lanes slightly north of Langmaid Road, and reverts back into a divided highway just to the south of the Business 113 junction in Snow Hill, has been considered a hazard for many years.
So when his office announced Gov. Larry Hogan’s schedule for his first, and to date only, Eastern Shore tour in early April and noted a transportation press conference at the Worcester County Board of Education building in Newark, the topic of conversation could only have been Route 113.
The governor made good, and announced funding for the final roadwork phase of the Route 113 dualization project, with construction expected to begin in early spring next year, and opening to traffic two years later in 2019.
“Worcester County did it right,” Jim Ports Jr., deputy secretary of operations for the Department of Transportation, said during the press conference. “Route 113 was put in as a priority and never once went off. This has been through several governors, but this governor is getting it done.”
Currently underway is Phase 3, which spans the area from Massey Branch Road to the north down to Five Mile Branch Road in the south. Construction began in 2015, and this section is expected to be open to traffic in late 2017 or early 2018.
Bicycle and pedestrian improvements will be included, according to the state.
During the offseason, according to information provided by the state, this section of road carries 9,250-13,000 vehicles daily, with a couple hundred more during the summer. By 2035, the state estimates traffic will increase significantly.
This section is expected to cost $50.4 million, the lion’s share of which is to come from federal sources. The state’s share is reported to be $14.2 million, with federal dollars making up the balance.
Phase 4 is a 4.3-mile stretch between Five Mile Branch Road in the north to Public Landing Road to the south, and is the final section of road to be converted from two-lane highway to four. Construction will be advertised later this spring, and traffic estimates for this section of road mirror those of Phase 3.
According to figures provided by the state, this phase will cost a $86.4 million, with $67.2 million coming from federal sources and the remainder coming from the state.
The dualization project contains a Phase 5, which is an overpass at the junction of Route 113 and Snow Hill Road and no road construction. The completion of Phase 4 signals the end of major expansion efforts on the road.
“I inherited an infrastructure that had largely been ignored,” Hogan said at the time. “Transportation funds had been syphoned. State funding was slashed 96 percent. Local roads will get $6 million more in the coming fiscal year, and I’m going to commit $2 billion to infrastructure. We’re moving forward with every highest-priority item in the state — all 86 of them.”
Local advocates and officials were pleased by the announcement.
“The county wants to thank Gov. Hogan. We’ve traveled a long road to get here. Route 113 was once a dangerous road, and there were too many lives claimed. The project started in 1999, and there’s one more phase to go, which is now going to be completed. Thank you governor,” County Commissioner President Jim Bunting said.
Ports then introduced Bob Hulburd, president of CRASH, (county residents action for safer highways,) who has worked on getting Route 113 dualized since his cousin, Lee Figgs, was killed on the highway in 1994.
“The community advocated for this for decades,” Ports said. “The CRASH team deserves credit for keeping the pressure on us.”
Hulburd took the podium in the board of education meeting room, where he had spent a decade as a member.   
“I’ve never been accused of being speechless, but I might be today,” he said. “It’s a red letter day … the community had had enough — 97 people died in the 20 years we’ve pursued this. It became a question of ‘people preservation,’ and lives have been saved today — maybe yours, or someone you love,” Hulbard said.
“Thank goodness for what we have. Thank goodness for the people who came before. I hope to live long enough to see it completed,” he said.
Hulburd said he expected to walk on the completed road with SHA district engineer Donnie Drewer, who retired in October.
The work proceeded without commuter impact until late August, though the work was delayed more than once by the State Highway Administration.
A total of four overnight closings near Newark were necessary as work on the project continued. Each job involved the excavation and removal of old stormwater management pipes, plus installation of new pipe up to 72 inches in diameter. The road was closed from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Three installations were just south of Langmaid Road, and the fourth installation was north of Basket Switch Road. Divers will use that street as well as Newark Road as bypasses.
The SHA measured the detours at about one mile in each direction.
As the four crossings were completed, the SHA revealed as many as six additional crossings need to be made as Route 113 is widened. Some of that work is underway now, but so far has not affected normal traffic patterns.
In November, the State Highway Administration announced drivers with a degree of familiarity with the stretch of Route 113 between Snow Hill and Langmaid Road will need to readjust the cruise control as the State Highway Administration has lowered the speed limit in the work area to 45 m.p.h.
Speeding fines are doubled in the reduced speed zone.
Robert Rager, the district community liaison for the SHA, said the reduced speed requirement would last until the dualization of this stretch of road is complete at the end of 2017.  
The cost to dualize the road has exceeded $200 million, with most of the money coming from the state and federal governments.
“Work zone speed reductions are fairly common where we expect significant work/lane closures on the existing road or a lot of construction vehicles entering/exiting the road during peak travel times or in areas with limited sight-distance,” Rager said. “Most of the work to date on US 113 has been clearing and grading — off the road with minimal impacts to traffic. As you well know the pipe crossings have been done under full closure and detour.”
The pipe crossing work finished in October, but more crossings to replace aging drainage infrastructure will be necessary before the project is complete. No schedule for those closures has been released.