Gov. Hogan: Nearly 24 mil. toward Salisbury Bypass project

23.8 million dollars are going toward the Salisbury Bypass, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced Thursday.

“I have made it very clear that building, maintaining and fixing Maryland’s roads and bridges is our top transportation priority,” Says Governor Hogan.

The funding is from both state and federal money: 5.2 million from Maryland and 18.6 million from the federal government.

It will be used to fix 11 bridges along the bypass from Route 13 to south of Route 50.

Donnie Drewer, a district engineer for the State Highway Administration, says some plans include replacing the concrete bridge deck approaches with steel supports and installing taller walls.

“The first ones go over the railroad tracks, and the next two go over old ocean city road and the next two go over route 50, the next two Mount Hermon road and the next two go Parker Pond,” Explains Drewer.

According to Drewer, the 11 bridges are more than 40 years old. He says this project will allow large commercial trucks to travel freely along the whole bypass. They are currently restricted from using the bridges on the entire eastern half of the bypass because of weight limits.

More travel, according to Governor Hogan, means more opportunity.

“Our small state of Maryland actually created more jobs in the state of the country and things like can actually help the business community continue to grow and put more people to work,” He says.

Officials tell 47ABC, construction for this project should begin sometime this fall. They’re aiming for the entire project to be completed by the spring of 2018.

The Salisbury Bypass is not the only structure officials are eying. More than two million dollars will go toward replacing the deck of the route thirteen southbound bridge over Kings Creek in Somerset County.