Better To Focus Efforts On Route 90 Work

While it’s unlikely to matter in the short term, Ocean City officials are wise to pursue Route 90, rather than Route 50, as a priority infrastructure project.

At last week’s County Commissioner meeting, the Maryland Department of Transportation reviewed its six-year transportation project budget with Worcester officials. Continuing the dualization phases of Route 113 remains the top priority for the state and the county, but the discussion gets interesting after that. For years, adding lanes to Route 589 has been the second priority with the Route 50 Bridge vying for more consideration. Last year Ocean City officials made a case that dualizing Route 90 is actually the resort’s more pressing project, and some in the county even believe it’s more of a time-sensitive matter than Route 589.

It’s ironic that this summer’s Route 50 Bridge malfunction played a part in the argument to prioritize Route 90 by the city last week. Rather than advocating for the current bridge to be replaced because of the breakdown, the city maintained it underscored the importance of improving the secondary route into Ocean City from a public safety perspective.

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