The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board is holding an informational session in Bel Air Monday night to provide an update to the public on the Carrs Mill Road Bridge replacement project.
The BRTB and Harford County government will host a public meeting on amendments to the 2016-2019 Transportation Improvement Program, or TIP, affecting the Carrs Mill project from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Harford County Public Library, Bel Air branch, 100 E. Pennsylvania Ave. in Bel Air.
According to BRTB, the $2.4 million project replaces the 66-year old triple-cell concrete pipe bridge that carries Carrs Mill Road over the Bear Cabin Branch stream. The severely deteriorated concrete pipes and slate headwalls need replacement.
The bridge is located between the Grafton Shop Road intersection and Winters Run, along a heavily traveled route between Bel Air and Fallston, an area that is also prone to flooding during periods of heavy rainfall.
The project has been delayed for several years because of right-of-way issues, according to past information from Harford County highway officials. Those issues are close to being resolved, Cindy Mumby, spokesperson for Harford County government said Monday morning.
Mumby said the bridge handles 8,000 vehicles daily.
The Transportation Improvement Program amendment adds a total of $1.5 million in federal Surface Transportation Program and local matching funds for construction and inspection fees. Total funding in the 2016-2019 TIP increases from $500,000 to $2,035,000, according to the BRTB.
Adding this funding allows Harford County to begin construction on the project in late 2016 or early 2017, according to a BRTB notice which also states:
"Harford County does not anticipate significant road closures with this project, as a temporary bridge is to be built to maintain traffic flow during construction."
The Harford County Board of Estimates is scheduled to approve a $195,952 contract Tuesday with BGE for relocation of utilities associated with the bridge replacement, according to the board's agenda.
According to bid documents, Harford eventually will be reimbursed for 80 percent of its expenditures by the State Highway Administration.
Mumby said the project has been designed and should go out to bid in July, with construction to begin in mid-August to early September.
The plan to install a temporary bridge while the permanent span is being constructed, means traffic, including school buses that use the route, should not be affected, Mumby said.
A public comment period on the Transportation Improvement Program amendment for the Carrs Mill Bridge project opened last month and will close this Friday.
A presentation will also be made to the BRTB's Public Advisory Committee Policy Subcommittee on Wednesday, May 4 at 4:30 p.m. at the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, 1500 Whetstone Way, Suite 300, in Baltimore. The BRTB will vote on the amendments on May 24.
The amended 2016-2019 TIP is the list of regional transportation projects requesting federal funding. It includes more than $2.5 billion in proposed federal, state and local money for highway, transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects during the next four years. The funding goes towards maintaining, operating and expanding the transportation system. The TIP is fiscally constrained.
To share your thoughts and ideas, email, comments@baltometro.org; Twitter, @BaltoMetroCo and @BmoreInvolved using the hashtag #BRTBlistens; or fax, 410-732-8248
Comments can also be sent to: The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board,
Attn: Public Involvement Coordinator, Offices @ McHenry Row, 1500 Whetstone Way, Suite 300, Baltimore, MD 21230.