Route 52 Bridge Project on Schedule

Visitors streaming into Ocean City this weekend will get a new glimpse of a $400 million road project in its final phases after six years of work.

By the end of May, the Route 52 causeway will carry cars over two new bridges and an elevated road surface across two miles of marsh and bay.

"We remain well on schedule to have the new causeway opened in the final four-lane configuration before Memorial Day," state Department of Transportation Press Officer Tim Greeley said this week.

One lane of traffic in each direction has been sharing half the causeway as construction continues, and on Friday (April 6), traffic heading into town for the holiday weekend was backed up for much of the day.

The gateway intersections at either end of the causeway are still not complete and temporarily limiting the flow of traffic to and from the barrier island.

After the roadway is completed next month, work will continue on a new Welcome Center on the causeway, and on the fishing piers, boat ramps and bike routes that will make the new causeway and attraction as well as a highway. Final work is expected to be complete by the fall.

For more information and graphics, visit the state Department of Transportation's website: 

• Route 52 Causeway Replacement Overview
• Visitor's Center Plan
• Somers Point Improvements