Conway Street congestion expected to get worse
The already congested commute through Baltimore's Conway Street bottleneck is expected to become even more constricted for the next five to six weeks as the city ramps up a series of closings for utility and repaving work.
Conway Street, a well-traveled link between Interstate 95 and Light Street, has been the site of lane closings for weeks as the city prepares for the downtown Grand Prix race scheduled for September and as BGE works to seal gas leaks from underground utility lines.
As of Monday at 6 a.m., if weather permits, the closings are expected to become ever more disruptive, and city transportation officials are urging motorists to avoid Conway and use alternate routes into and out of downtown.
The closing will affect traffic movements on Conway, Light and Charles streets.
On eastbound Conway, morning commuters could face significant backups because traffic that normally flows onto northbound Light will be detoured onto Charles. One of the three eastbound lanes will remain open between Charles and Light for traffic turning right onto southbound Light.
Commuters leaving town in the evening could face similar congestion because only one lane of westbound Conway will be open, with access from southbound Light only.
Though all lanes of northbound Light will be open, left turns onto Conway will be prohibited. On southbound Light, two lanes of through traffic will remain open, but only one right turn lane onto westbound Conway will be open.
City officials say the closings will "severely impact the movement of traffic in the downtown area" and are urging commuters to use alternate routes.
For inbound traffic, they suggest continuing straight where Interstate 395 flows into Howard Street and using Baltimore Street to travel east. As an alternative, they suggest taking Martin Luther King Boulevard to Baltimore Street, Mulberry Street or Druid Hill Avenue/Centre Street.
For outbound drivers, the city is recommending taking Lombard Street to Howard Street, Greene Street or Martin Luther King. Other suggested routes are Fayette Street to Liberty and Sharp streets to westbound Conway, Fayette to Martin Luther King.
Comments
Is there any word from MTA about bus diversions through this area? On the inbound route one driver was (without an official OK, I'm sure) turning right off of Charles onto Montgomery, left onto Light, left onto Conway, then right back onto Charles Street. Sounds like this workaround doesn't exist anymore.
Posted by: Chris | May 4, 2011 8:57 AM