Temporary traffic calming measures along Hagerstown Expressway
The Maryland Department of Transportation has implemented temporary traffic calming measures along the Dual Highway between Cleveland and Cannon Avenue.
In recent days, it has been hard to miss the traffic safety improvements being made on the Dual Highway east of downtown Hagerstown.
These include dozens of yellow or white flex posts and new markings on the road.
According to the Maryland Department of Transportation, they will also include the first speed bumps on a state highway.
The speed bumps and flex posts are temporary traffic improvements the state is implementing in partnership with Smart Growth America while they explore strategies to improve traffic safety across the state, according to the Department of Transportation.
Hagerstown is one of three communities testing these demonstration projects. The other two are in Bel Air in Harford County and in Howard County in the Columbia area, said Jim Bender, Hagerstown’s state and city engineer.
“The projects target dangerous intersections or corridors where traffic fatalities or accidents are known to have occurred in the past,” the Ministry of Transport said in a press release.
The traffic safety improvement measures will be implemented along the east and westbound Dual Highway from Cannon Avenue to Cleveland Avenue.
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Why is MDOT investigating traffic safety measures on this section of the Dual Highway?
The Hagerstown/Eastern Panhandle Metropolitan Planning Organization (HEPMPO), the State Highway Administration and the city government have all identified this area as a concern, either for pedestrian safety or as a high-risk area for injury, according to information provided by State Highway Administration spokesman M. Daniel Allman.
According to Bender, problems on this section of the Dual Highway include speeding drivers and pedestrians who often try to cross the highway in the middle of the block rather than at intersections with crosswalks and traffic lights.
The speed limit in this area is 25 miles per hour.
Speeding is a bigger problem heading west, toward downtown, Bender said. Devices set up in early to mid-August recorded a speed of 42 miles per hour heading west, which is the 85th percentile, assuming 85 percent of traffic is traveling that speed or less. The numbers are similar heading east.
In addition, many pedestrians cross the westbound lanes on their way to a liquor store and back, Bender emphasized.
Other shops in the area include a McDonald’s and a CVS pharmacy.
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What traffic changes are there and how long will they last?
Some of the improvements, including clearer crosswalk markings at the intersections of Franklin Street and Washington Street with Cannon Avenue and pavement markings for left-turn lanes, remained, Allman said in an email to The Herald-Mail.
Other improvements, including the flex posts and brake pads, are expected to be removed “around mid-November,” Allman wrote.
Bender said snow plows could damage the rubber speed bumps that will be screwed into the westbound lanes. There will be two speed bumps near Dual Highway Liquors, one in each westbound lane. The speed bumps are not as high as the speed bumps drivers may be familiar with in some shopping center parking lots. They are raised, but not too steep, Bender said.
The flexible posts, installed on the outer edges of lanes to prevent drivers from driving onto the shoulder of the highway, are designed to make the road appear narrower so motorists will slow down, Bender said. They will also prevent drivers from avoiding the speed bumps.
While motorists can still use business entrances and exits, they are not allowed to access the driveways from the side of the road and must therefore slow down when approaching a driveway, Bender said.
On the east side, flexible posts were installed to cut off a left-turn lane from Washington Street onto Cannon Avenue. Drivers must now turn left from the left through lane on Washington Street. This measure is intended to force drivers to make a wider arc so they don’t have to turn onto Cannon Avenue as briefly, Bender said. It’s all about protecting pedestrians at the intersection waiting to cross the street.
Cristin Burson crossed the lighter crosswalk markings at the corner of Washington and Cannon on Monday.
Burson said the measures were a big step towards improving and increasing traffic safety.
Pamela Fletcher-Day, who has lived at the corner of Cannon and Franklin for about 15 years, hopes the measures will encourage more pedestrians to use crosswalks. She said she has seen people, including some with children, crossing the highway in the middle of the block, and that can be dangerous.
Another temporary measure is reinforced median lines on Cannon Avenue in the block between Franklin and Washington. The reinforced lines run partway along the median of both intersections but do not block access to businesses, Bender said.
The idea is to encourage drivers to make wider turns on Cannon Avenue to protect pedestrians, Bender said. These were not in operation on Monday, but work was planned on Cannon Avenue for Wednesday.
The speed bumps are also expected to be installed on Wednesday, Allman said.
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How authorities will monitor the impact of temporary traffic improvements in Hagerstown
To determine whether these traffic calming measures are effective, speedometers have been installed to measure the speed of vehicles in the eastbound and westbound lanes, Allman wrote.
State authorities are considering surveying pedestrians and cyclists in the area.
Bender said the city government will informally monitor the project and may also survey pedestrians or motorists who drive into business parking lots in the area to get feedback on whether they think the changes are effective or problematic.
While a reporter was on the scene Monday, an ambulance was coming westbound through Franklin and traffic stopped at the Cannon light. Neither the ambulance driver nor other motorists could use the right shoulder of the road. But the light changed, as ambulance drivers often have the opportunity to change the signals to green when they pass through heavily trafficked areas.
Bender acknowledged that it might be more difficult for drivers to avoid emergency vehicles and that this is something officials are looking into.
“It all comes down to watching whether it works or not,” Bender said in a phone interview earlier in the day.
Further east along the Dual Highway, sidewalks are being installed
To improve pedestrian safety, the State Highway Administration is also installing sidewalks along Dual Highway from Eastern Boulevard to All Star Court near Younger Toyota.
Bender said many older sections of the Dual Highway have no sidewalks and people walk on the side of the road.
Allman said work began Sunday and is expected to be completed by late summer 2025.
