Driving Surface to be Replaced from Hill Road to Greenleaf Road

(April 13, 2017) – The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) is beginning the final phase of the $2.9 million improvement project on MD 704 (Martin Luther King Jr, Highway) between Hill Road and Greenleaf Road in Prince George’s County.  Weather permitting, the more than one-mile project will be complete late spring.

Crews are removing the top layer of asphalt and will apply new pavement and markings. To complete remaining work on this project, crews are permitted to close the following lanes in both directions of MD 704:

• Single lane, weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and

• Double lanes, overnight, Sunday through Thursday, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

This project was a “Road Diet” concept of reducing excess travel lanes and adding space for different modes of transportation, including bicycles and pedestrians.  MD 704 had six travel lanes (three in each direction).  SHA engineers evaluated traffic flow and determined that traffic operations will remain adequate if the roadway was reduced to four travel lanes (two in each direction.)  Crews will install a five-foot bicycle lane and ADA-compliant sidewalk in the footprint of the vehicle travel lane that is being removed.

 

SHA completed an identical project on MD 704 between the Washington D.C. line and Hill Road in early 2015 that also reduced travel lanes and constructed bicycle-friendly lanes and sidewalks for pedestrian access.  Reducing the travel lanes has a calming effect on traffic and slows driver speeds. This also presents SHA with an opportunity to provide space for bicyclists and sidewalks. 

 

(SHA diagram:  New MD 704/Dr. Martin Luther Ling Jr. Highway profile.)

As part of the project, SHA also:

• Removed and upgrade the concrete median;

• Installed new guardrails;

• Replaced missing or damaged trees in the median;

• Upgraded sidewalk ramps and driveways to meet ADA standards;

• Constructed new concrete curb and gutter;

• Installed new pavement markers and striping; and

• Replaced aging stormwater inlets.

 

Approximately 30,000 vehicles use this section of MD 704 daily so motorists should expect delays during the lane closures.  SHA’s contractor for the work is Allan Myers of Fallston. For real-time traffic information, please visit www.md511.org or call 1-855-466-3511 using a hands-free device while driving.