Conway Street lane closings could tie up traffic
Commuters from south of Baltimore who drive to downtown on Interstate 95 could face serious delays next week when the city Department of Transportation shuts down two lanes of eastbound Conway Street between Charles and Light streets.
The work will affect traffic between 6 a.m. Tuesday and 6 p.m. Thursday. Part of the city's preparations for next year's downtown Grand Prix race, the project will leave only the right-hand lane of three-lane Conway open. That lane will remain open only for traffic headed south on Light. Northbound traffic will be detoured onto Charles Street.
The diversion comes on top of a continuing double-lane closing on Pratt Street between Greene and Calvert streets. As the work continues, the city is urging motorists to avoid causing gridlock blocking intersections.
Drivers coming to the city on Interstate 395 might want to avoid Conway Street by continuing straight onto Howard Street. For others, it could be advantageous to take the Martin Luther King Boulevard exit and take a right turn on Baltimore, Saratoga or Mulberry streets or Druid Hill Avenue. Another alternate route is to take Russell Street into Paca Street and to turn on the appropriate eastbound strreet.
Construction work to prepare for the Grand Prix, scheduled next September, is expected to continue for nine monthhs. According to the city, much of the work would have had to have been completed over the next few years even without the race.
Comments
Ah, the perfect storm - I guess I'll need to start leaving at 7 to get to work on time now. As it is right now, every morning the backup on Charles Street starts at Henrietta Street. I can't wait to see how the Conway Street dump is going to affect that.
PS - I take the 64 bus from Brooklyn, so my alternatives are essentially nonexistent. I've already had to add a half-hour to my commute due to the elimination of the 64 Express.
Posted by: Chris | October 1, 2010 9:15 AM
So I get why they need to do the work, but why aren't these projects being run on a 24/7 schedule? These are tough times and it's basically a fixed cost job. The labor force has to be available. Run the days longer and eliminate these incredible bottlenecks as soon as possible!!
Posted by: Ted | October 1, 2010 3:34 PM
To prevent gridlock, the City must do two things: 1. Post signs at major intersections that state: Don't Block the Box: $70 Fine!, and cross hatch the intersection with paint lines. 2. Direct the traffic police to put away their whistles and get out their citation pads, and go to town on every car that gets trapped in the box. Do it the New York way!
Posted by: Steve S. | October 1, 2010 4:41 PM
I vote get rid of traffic cops for directing traffic as they cause the backups. I travel from 95 to 395 onto Howard than Pratt St to Charles. The days there is no traffic cop my delayed travel time about 10 min,chrowie otherwife when traffic cops get involved it can take me 40 min to get to my building on Charles. Maybe not have 1 at every corner. You do need one at Howard where lightrail is cause people are stupid as they will try to get ahead and end up stuck on the track and than the train comes.. Stupid people.
Posted by: Raven | October 1, 2010 8:55 PM