Shared on behalf of Maryland State Highway Administration
The first planned closure of the MD 213 bridge over Old Mill Stream Branch is scheduled for this weekend, July 19-22. This is the bridge at the south end of town, between Hillside and Citgo. Detour signs will be posted. We'll close MD 213 at the bridge at 7 p.m. Friday night and reopen no later than 5 a.m. Monday morning. This closure will allow crews to remove the temporary steel plates and begin constructing the new bridge abutments.
Access to Citgo, Red Zone Pizza, etc. will be from the downtown area (north of the bridge). Access to Hillside, American Legion and establishments south of here (e.g., McDonald's, Food Lion) will be from the south (US 301). Because SHA generally must sign the shortest detour route using state (numbered) roads we'll likely detour MD 213 traffic using US 301 and MD 304. For northbound MD 213 traffic headed to and from downtown Centreville over the weekend this route makes sense. For northbound MD 213 traffic just passing through town, MD 305 might be a better choice. If you have friends, relatives, clients, etc. looking to take MD 213 in either direction without stopping in Centreville this weekend, please give them a heads up as to better alternates such as MD 305. While traffic volumes are generally lower here on the weekends the combination of this detour with the town water/sewer work and two-way traffic on Liberty St. might result in delays when traveling through town.
Again, this closure is at the south end of town and no traffic impacts are expected this weekend at the other bridge work site (Gravel Run on the north end). Southbound MD 213 drivers coming from North Brook, Church Hill, etc. can proceed straight into town all the way to the Citgo if necessary. You'll just need to turn around and use MD 304 or MD 305 to access US 301 from this point.
This is the first of four planned weekend closures at Old Mill Stream on the south end of town. We're on target to replace this bridge by the end of this year. This will be a particularly interesting replacement as the new bridge is under construction adjacent to the roadway and we'll slide into place on rails this fall. This method allows us to keep traffic flowing through the week while the new bridge takes shape.
As always, thanks for your patience and don't hesitate to contact me anytime with questions.
Bob Rager
Maryland State Highway Administration
District Community Liaison
443-463-3768