Potential Traffic Signal At Route 50 – Whaleyville Road Intersection

WHALEYVILLE, Md. – The stretch of Route 50 in Worcester County is one of the busiest highways on the Eastern Shore. One of these busy intersections along the route in Whaleyville, has been the scene of multiple high speed crashes.

Mark Crampton is the District 1 engineer for the Maryland State Highway Administration, and explained what makes these crashes especially devastating.

“When those crashes occur, they’re very severe because 50 is a high speed road.” Said Crampton. “And they tend to be what we call angle crashes.”

The intersection is where the dual sided Route 50 meets Whaleyville Rd., flashing yellow lights on Route 50 caution drivers of motorists looking to cross, who are faced with a stop sign and a median.

Recently on September 14th, Maryland State Police reported a crash at the intersection which resulted in five people being transported to the hospital.

Local motorists, such as Emmanuel Nava Gusman, believe that the difficult visibility and high speed traffic in both lanes, make the intersection dangerous.

“Too many stop-and-goes.” Said Nava Gusman. “It’s just people don’t really wait. They can’t see, too. They just don’t look correctly because the intersection is straight. But the angle in which the road comes is completely different.”

County commissioners have now met with Maryland State Highway Administration, and engineers have begun work designing a traffic signal.

District 1 Engineer Mark Crampton discussed how a signal would benefit the intersection.

“It warns the motorist like the characteristics of the road are changing.” Said Crampton. “And what it does is it gives a very defined phase of the signal for that median vehicle to safely go across the westbound lanes or whatever. Everybody gets their turn or less.”

The engineers hope to finalize the design by mid 2027, and then begin construction in the following months.