(November 5, 2014) – Beginning Friday evening, November 7, crews will begin opening the final section of the Intercounty Connector (ICC) / MD 200 to US 1 in Prince George’s County. During this same time, crews also will begin opening the I-95 / Konterra Drive (formerly Contee Road) Interchange, located between the ICC and MD 198. Both the ICC and the new interchange will open to traffic by morning rush hour on Monday, November 10, weather permitting.
The last segment of the ICC extends 1.5 miles from I-95 to US 1 in Laurel. This project also includes a partial interchange at Konterra Drive and a signalized intersection at US 1 (
click here for fact sheet) near the MARC commuter station on Muirkirk Road. Commuters will have improved access to the Muirkirk MARC Station by traveling eastbound on the ICC/MD 200 to Konterra Drive (Exit 20), turn right, then left at the traffic signal on Muirkirk Road over US 1 to a left into the entrance for the MARC station. The final ICC contract included improvements to I-95 to create new collector-distributor (CD) lanes for access to and from the new Konterra Drive, the ICC and MD 198 interchanges (
click here for project map). The consolidated exits improve safety by separating slower exiting and entering traffic from mainline travel lanes.
The portion of the ICC between I-270/I-370 and MD 97 opened February 2011 and the remainder to I-95 opened to traffic November 2011. The State Highway Administration (SHA) designed and built the toll highway, which is operated and maintained by the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA). The ICC is an all-electronic, variably priced toll facility, where higher tolls are charged during peak-travel times (Monday through Friday, between 6 - 9 am and 4 - 7 pm) and reduced tolls are charged during off-peak and overnight hours. ICC tolls are collected at highway speeds using E-ZPass® and Video Tolling to maintain relatively free-flowing traffic conditions. The ICC per-mile toll rates will remain the same with the opening to US 1.
Simultaneous to the opening of the final segment of the ICC, SHA will open a new I-95 interchange at Konterra Drive. Located along I-95 between the ICC and MD 198, the new interchange will serve Konterra Drive, which extends from Old Gunpowder Road to the west to Muirkirk Road to the east, providing better access to the Laurel Regional Hospital and a future 2,200-acre mixed-use development at Konterra.
Motorists should use caution when traveling through the area over the weekend as crews will open the connecting ramps, roads and CD lanes in phases. Drivers are urged to follow signs, watch for construction crews and prepare for new traffic patterns.
SHA’s contractor for the final ICC project was a joint venture design-build team including Shirley Contracting Company, LLC, Clark Construction Group, LLC, Facchina Construction Company, Inc. and Trumbull Corporation. The lead design firm was Dewberry & Davis, LLC. The contractor for the I-95/ Konterra Drive interchange was American Infrastructure, Inc.
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