I-81 Potomac River Bridge Widening Project (construction, mall, moving)

[mmccul]

The widening project for the I-81 bridge on the West Virginia/Maryland state line has officially begun. I-81 will also be widened to three lanes on each side from the Marlowe/Falling Waters exit through some of Maryland. The over $100,000,000 project is expected to be completed summer 2020.

While the end result will greatly improve traffic flow throughout the area, I imagine traffic throughout the construction process will be an absolute nightmare.

The $105 million I-81 widening project over the Potomac River has

[Katie1]

That should be a Maryland Project... since they own 2 foot on the WV land side. Glad its being fixed. It so needs it! Hope they can take some of the sharp curve out & hate that!

They just Did the I-81 Bridges! I was talking about the Rt 11 Bridge! sheesh

[Dequindre]

Maryland's big problem are their on/off ramps. They are WAY too short. The one going North from Valley Mall is terrible.

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by mmccul

The widening project for the I-81 bridge on the West Virginia/Maryland state line has officially begun. I-81 will also be widened to three lanes on each side from the Marlowe/Falling Waters exit through some of Maryland. The over $100,000,000 project is expected to be completed summer 2020.

While the end result will greatly improve traffic flow throughout the area, I imagine traffic throughout the construction process will be an absolute nightmare.

The $105 million I-81 widening project over the Potomac River has

Hopefully Maryland will follow suit and widen I-81 at least as far as the I-70 intersection, redoing that intersection in the process. That area is always an accident waiting to happen.

[304eer]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

Hopefully Maryland will follow suit and widen I-81 at least as far as the I-70 intersection, redoing that intersection in the process. That area is always an accident waiting to happen.

It's been discussed. I found this

MDSHA: PLC - WA128_11 - IS 0081 MARYLAND VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY WEST VIRGINIA STATE LINE TO PENNSYLVANIA STATE LINE - Project Information

And wikipedia says this

I-81 is heavily congested within Maryland due to the 1960s era freeway being used as both a commuter route within a rapidly growing metropolitan area as well as a major trucking corridor. In 2010, the highway had a minimum annual average daily traffic of 43,771 between Showalter Road and PA 163 and a maximum of 62,181 between Halfway Boulevard and US 40.[1] The Interstate is often used by long-distance traffic as an alternative to I-95 to avoid traveling through the major cities of the East Coast. As a result, in 2001 the Maryland State Highway Administration began developing long-term plans to upgrade the entire length of I-81 in Maryland. The state completed the planning process for the eventual upgrades to the Interstate highway in November 2010; the next step is preliminary engineering work. The state plans to expand I-81 to six lanes to address capacity concerns. In addition, many of the interchanges will be rebuilt to reduce or eliminate weaving. In particular:
The collector-distributor lanes within the I-70 interchange would be extended north through the Halfway Boulevard interchange.
The US 40 and Showalter Road interchanges would be changed from a full cloverleaf interchange to a partial interchange by removing the two loop ramps from the crossroad onto I-81.
The MD 58 interchange may be converted from a partial cloverleaf interchange to a diamond interchange.
The Maugans Avenue diamond interchange may have a loop ramp added from westbound Maugans Avenue to southbound I-81.
At almost every interchange, acceleration and deceleration lanes would be lengthened to modern standards. The ramps within the I-70 interchange would be modified to better handle traffic passing between two freeways. Auxiliary lanes would be added in both directions between the US 40 and MD 58 interchanges, and southbound between the Showalter Road and Maugans Avenue interchanges. In addition, there is an option to construct a truck weigh station somewhere along I-81 within the state; there are no weigh stations along either the Maryland or West Virginia segments of I-81.[26]