UPDATE June 6, 2013:  Due to weather, SHA will not be closing South Mechanic Street tonight or tomorrow night. Nightly closures of South Mechanic Street between Harrison and Howard streets between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. will begin Saturday night, June 8, weather permitting, and continue for approximately one week.

(May 30, 2013) – The State Highway Administration (SHA) advises motorists that work on the I-68 Crosstown Bridge in Cumberland will require the closure of the westbound I-68 ramp to MD 51/Industrial Boulevard (exit 43B) this weekend, as well as overnight closures of a section of South Mechanic Street starting Thursday, June 6.

 

The closures will allow crews to blast-clean and paint the structural steel on the underside of the bridge in the sections that cross over the ramp and over South Mechanic Street. In the case of inclement weather, the work will be postponed and the closures will be rescheduled.

 

The westbound I-68 ramp to MD 51 will be closed beginning Friday, May 31, at 8 p.m., and will reopen Monday, June 3, at 6 a.m. Drivers should follow detour signs that will direct traffic to continue west on I-68 to exit 43A (Beall Street), make a left onto Kelly Road, and use the ramp for eastbound I-68, then proceed to the eastbound exit 43B to MD 51.

 

South Mechanic Street will be closed between West Harrison Street and Howard Street between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. beginning the night of Thursday, June 6. The closure will continue nightly for approximately one week, weather permitting. During the closure, the following detours will be in place:

 

From the north: Go east on Harrison Street, south on Queen City Drive/Winston Street, then north on Mechanic Street.

From Howard Street/Westbound I-68 exit 43B: Go south on MD 51, turn around at Canal Parkway to go north on MD 51, to Centre Street, to west on Harrison Street.

 

The work is part of a $14 million, two-year bridge rehabilitation project. SHA’s contractor for the project is Titan Industrial Services Inc. of Baltimore. More information about the project is available at www.bitly.com/crosstownbridge.

 

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