Muddy Creek Intersection Work Stalled, But Now Moving Along

Residents on the Mayo peninsula have been pretty patient with the intersection at Central Avenue and Muddy Creek Road in Edgewater.

Although most residents have known this for years, the Department of Public Works also has recognized it as a "failed" intersection and began work in October 2010 to add lanes to improve the traffic flow on and off the peninsula.

The project is being conductedby the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA).

In January and February of this year, work stalled due to winter weather.

In March, work resumed with intermittent lane closures that were announced to the public, including on Edgewater-Davidsonville Patch.com.

Part of the spring/summer work was the relocation of utility poles to make way for additional traffic lanes.

But over the summer, the work seemed to stall. Matt Diehl, spokesman for DPW, said discussions between county and state officials and Verizon delayed the start of utility pole relocations.

On Aug. 7, Verizon workers went on strike, further delaying work.

Diehl also said unforseen design problems, including the construction of a retaining wall, put the project behind schedule.

Last week, Verizon workers ended their strike and returned to work.

When will it be done?

The original project was slated to be completed in two phases. The first phase was one year of work that began in October of 2010. The new additions to the intersection in Phase One included:

• A continuous westbound lane on Central Avenue;
• A dedicated right turn lane for eastbound Central Avenue onto southbound Muddy Creek Road;
• Two left turn lanes for northbound Muddy Creek Road onto westbound Central Avenue;
• One right turn lane from northbound Muddy Creek onto eastbound Central Avenue;
• One left turn lane from westbound Central Avenue onto southbound Muddy Creek Road.

Phase Two of the project is expected to last about eight months and will begin when Phase One is completed. Phase Two consists of widening Central Avenue from Central Middle School up to the intersection at Muddy Creek Road.

The original date for completion of Phases One and Two was July 2012. The Phase One problems pushed that back a couple of months to late summer 2012.

Diehl said no lane closures are expected for the foreseeable future.