Route 90 Sinkhole Renews Route 90 Dualization Push

OCEAN CITY — One day after a fatal accident on Route 50 and a sinkhole on Route 90 simultaneously closed portions of the two major gateways to the resort, Mayor Rick Meehan on Monday made a continued push to make a future dualization of Route 90 a top priority.

On Sunday, a fatal accident on Route 50 at Route 589 shut down the major route into Ocean City from around 8 a.m. to roughly 11:30 a.m. Around 11 a.m., a sinkhole was discovered on Route 90 that completely closed the westbound lanes on that major artery until about 2:30 p.m. on a busy Sunday in late July. Essentially, the separate incidents overlapped to the point both major arteries were experiencing significant lane closures at the same time.

The sinkhole opened on the Route 90 Bridge over the Assawoman Bay near its approach to Ocean City. State Highway Administration (SHA) crews were on hand shortly thereafter and set up a flagging operation, directing one lane traffic in the area. Crews from SHA’s maintenance shop in Snow Hill arrived a short time later and temporarily patched the hole, which was roughly three feet by six feet, with a steel plate.

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