Maryland State Route 235 Widening

As a requirement of the Wildewood Planned Unit Development land plan and resolution, improvements were required to Maryland Route 235. The State highway required an expansion of the road Right-of-Way through developer financing, and since the project was not a State funded project, the property acquisition was not be permitted to use State Highway Administration (SHA) condemnation rights. The property negotiations followed SHA procedures; however, all final negotiations were developer funded.This project posed a number of challenges, including negotiations with land owners for property acquisition coupled with the sensitivity of land classified as Tier II watershed. Soltesz phased the construction plans to meet the developer acquisition of property.

Phase 1 was set for property owned by the developer, and construction included open back storm drain inlets and underdrains that daylight to a grass channel set between public utilities and the roadway.

Phase 2 was located in an area along the frontage of a shopping center, and development was restricted to all prior SHA dedication. A dry stormwater pond was previously developed to provide peak management of the 2, 10, and 100-year storm events.

Phase 3 was located in front of the St. Mary’s County Regional Airport, adjacent to a large wetland. A dry stormwater management pond was previously designed for this area, also providing 2, 10, and 100-year peak management. Soltesz is providing all survey and engineering services for this project, and coordinating environmental submittals with the client’s environmental, structural, and traffic consultants.

The scope of work includes permitting plans through the local jurisdictions, State Highway Administration, and Maryland Department of the Environment for stormwater management review. Alternate alignment studies were provided to SHA to determine a suitable alignment while limiting the impact on adjacent property owners.