Road surface, weather behind frequent crashes near I-68 exit

Incline from Kelly Road to top of mountain not a factor, SHA concludes

Kevin Spradlin

CUMBERLAND — Allegany County planning officials have been told that rutting and wet weather are the primary causes of frequent crashes on Interstate 68 near the Seton Drive exit — and not the roadway’s superelevation.

Phil Hager, county planning coordinator, has made two consecutive attempts to bring attention to the westbound highway from Kelly Road to the top of Haystack Mountain during annual meetings with state transportation officials. This year, at least, State Highway Administration workers made an effort to address county leaders’ concern, Hager said Wednesday during a public work session of the Planning Commission.

It just wasn’t the answer for which Hager had hoped. Anthony Crawford, SHA District 6 engineer, wrote in a letter to county commission president Jim Stakem that technicians and engineers reviewed construction plans and performed spot surveys to determine “if the existing superelevation on the roadway is appropriate for current conditions.”

“As-built construction plans for the westbound lanes indicate a superelevation rate of 6 percent, while the survey check found a maximum rate of 6.5 percent,” Crawford said in the Oct. 26 letter. “This slightly greater rate is due to resurfacing of the roadway since its construction.”

Crawford said standards set by the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials allow for rates of superelevation of up to 8 percent on interstate highways.

“We feel that the recent increase in crashes are because of poor pavement condition(s) — particularly rutting and associated wet weather conditions,” Crawford said. “It is our hope that a proposed safety and resurfacing project along I-68 from the Vocke Road bridge to the Kelly Road bridge, deferred for the past two construction seasons, will be successfully advertised and constructed in the 2010 paving season.”

Crawford said the project will address the rutting and wet weather condition issues “but should also increase the superelevation as much as is reasonable given the constraints of existing roadway features and surrounding terrain.”

Kellie Boulware, spokeswoman for SHA in Baltimore, said the agency records show that five incidents occurred in that area in 2006, 11 in 2007 and two in 2008. The numbers for 2009 are still being compiled, but Boulware said that members of an Allegany County transportation committee have drawn attention to a series of incidents that occurred in the last few months.

“We are working with them to get their concerns,” Boulware said. She also mentioned the installation of Slippery When Wet signs that Crawford had said in his letter would be installed in both directions within that corridor on I-68 to warn motorists of potentially hazardous conditions.

Hager said the resurfacing project likely won’t resolve the dangerous conditions drivers face, a problem noted by all three county commissioners as well as the planning commission in recent months.

Because of reduced lane width in that area on I-68 and sharp turns, improvement “clearly needs to be maintained by us as a priority,” Hager said.

The answer might have been less than satisfactory, but Hager noted he was appreciative of the response and time given to the issue by Crawford and his staff.

“They took our request seriously,” Hager said.

Kevin Spradlin can be reached at kspradlin@times-news.com.