Forest Drive Improvements on Schedule

While sitting in traffic on Forest Drive, you've probably had time to check out the roadwork. So far, those improvements — designed to alleviate traffic headaches for Annapolis Neck Peninsula residents — are right on schedule.

That means the work from Bywater Road to just past Hilltop Lane should be wrapped by Christmas. The official deadline is Dec. 28, although a project manager said she suspects the workers will be out of there in time to celebrate the holiday.

When work is complete on the $3.5 million project, there will be three lanes in both directions with a solid median separating them, instead of the two lanes in either direction and the shared turning lane that is there now.

Kathy Sharp, project manager for Heery International, an Atlanta-based firm that contracts with the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works on various construction projects, including the Forest Drive upgrade, said all of the work is scheduled to help avoid adding to the congestion that's already on the road.

Officially, the agreement is to maintain at least two lanes of travel in both directions from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sharp said as work progresses, such as when workers begin to install the median, there may be workers periodically in the roadway.

All of the construction will take place on the Safeway side of the road, Sharp said. In the end, the middle of the road will basically shift and the median will be built in part of what is now the shared turn lane and the left lane on the Safeway side.

The median near the Hilltop Lane intersection should look similar to the island near Chinquapin Round Road, complete with landscaping, according to Sharp. She said the remainder of the stretch of Forest Drive between Bywater and Hilltop should closely resemble the median of Bestgate Road.

One of the key components of the upgrade has already been built and was recently paved. The 8-foot-wide hiker/biker lane on the Safeway side of Forest Drive will help make the area safer and more convenient, Sharp said.

"You'll have room for everybody who's out there: walkers, bikers and stroller-pushers," she said.

The pedestrian lane will be lined with new street lights and will tie directly into the sidewalk system near Hilltop Lane. There also will be new signals installed at both the intersections at Bywater Road and Hilltop Lane.

Another part of the upgrade is improved stormwater drainage. Sharp said some areas of the road had been prone to large pools of water gathering during a storm due to improper sloping of the road surface.

The solution? Reshape the roadway to enhance the flow of water into an improved gutter system. Sharp said the new system is designed to accommodate some of the heaviest storms that typically hit the area.

"We'll have enough shape on the road to get the water into the inlet and into the gutter and off the road," she said. "So I have reason to believe it will be much better out there."

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold said he believes in regionalism, and that the Forest Drive project is a strong example of that.

"The Forest Drive improvement is another way to cooperate with our neighbors in the city of Annapolis," Leopold said. "This artery is crucial. Our hope is that peak-hour traffic delays for those living on the Annapolis Neck peninsula will be relieved with this joint project between the county and the city."

According to county budget figures, Anne Arundel County contributed $974,000 and the city gave $268,000. The remainder of the $3.5 million project was funded with more than $1.3 million in highway impact fees; $773,000 in highway impact fee bonds; and $145,000 from the developer.