No warm and fuzzy feelings about Route 589

Commentary by Bob Lassahn

As the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDT) and the Worcester County Commissioners gathered for their annual discussion regarding MDT's Consolidated Transportation Plan (CTP) all the elements were present for something of a showdown. For weeks there has been discussion regarding the progress (or lack thereof) on converting Worcester Highway (Route 113) to a four lane divided highway and the need to get the ball rolling on improvements to Racetrack Rd. (Route 589) has been a rather hot topic. Concerned Residents Action for Safer Highways (CRASH) focusing on Route 113 and Safe Travel Along Route 589 (STAR 589) with their focus on Route 589 were there prepared to make presentations.

In the first minutes of the meeting an announcement from Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan likely took the steam out of some of those present. It was a great strategy. With the announcement of $14 million for another phase of Route 113 the gathering warmed up a bit to what MDT had to say.

Essentially there was silent acceptance that the Route 113 project could take in excess of six years (based on the current pace of funding) to complete, but nobody from MDT is even willing to proffer an estimate on a completion date. They say it all depends on the availability of funding, so a steady flow of money does not sound like a done deal. The latest round of money being put toward the project is not even enough to complete the next full phase of the road, so MDT created a sub phase (designated 2a) consisting of about 2.5 miles.

According to MDT the current 9.12 miles of Route 113 that remain untouched will cost an estimated $100 million. As Commissioner Tom Cetola succinctly stated, that figure is very likely to increase over the next few years, because construction costs are obviously going to go up. Add to this that MDT is putting new transportation initiatives into the hopper on a regular basis. The competition for a slice of the MDT budget is going to become more intense with every passing year.

Bob Hulburd of CRASH provided an interesting tidbit to chew on when he called attention to a newspaper article circa 1973 wherein the State Highway Administration (SHA) predicted the northern portion of Route 113 would be dual lane by 1979. Realistically the Route 113 dualization project was needed in the decade of the 1980s, but no one in government had the foresight to get started. It took a groundswell from citizens fed up with the carnage on the highway to get things moving during the 1990s. Now things are running about 25 years behind schedule.

Even more frustrating for some Worcester County residents is the knowledge that the already overburdened Route 589 is not going to get serious attention until Route 113 is complete. SHA is adamant in this regard and the commissioners do not seem inclined to argue the point too strongly. They likely do not want to dilute the issue of Route 113 by being too pushy with other projects.

Ocean Pines resident and chairman of the Ocean Pines Association Comprehensive Plan Committee Art Sachs lamented as he left the meeting that he did not feel "warm and fuzzy" about any movement on the Route 589 issue in the near future. Mr. Sachs is a proponent of seeing a "master plan" for Route 589 so that any development taking place during the period prior to the roadway's eventual improvement might contribute constructively to a suitable final design.

There is no easy solution to getting the projects moving faster. The current officials at MDT cannot be held accountable for failings in the past and there is a finite amount of funding to spread around. The commissioners are leveraging as much as possible from MDT and trying to maintain a good working relationship, so they wisely avoid heavy handed tactics.

All in all things do not bode well for any movement toward a fix on Route 589. Barring an unforeseen influx of funding the Route 113 dualization will plod along for quite a few years before an engineer puts pen to paper designing upgrades to Route 589. From that point, given the speed (or lack thereof) at which such projects progress, another decade could easily pass before the new and improved Racetrack Rd. becomes a reality. It can only be hoped the county will be very cautious about further development impacting the already stressed Route 589 corridor.