Maryland’s first express toll lanes announced

Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson (JMT) planned and designed the $450 million I-95/I-695 Interchange in Section 100 of the MdTA’s I-95 Express Toll Lane Mega project. This complex interchange, which is currently under construction, will relieve severe congestion in the I-95 corridor north of Baltimore by providing additional mainline capacity through additional general-purpose lanes and through the implementation of Maryland’s first application of express toll lanes. The four-level, fully directional interchange will replace left lane exits and entrances within the existing braided interchange design that often confounded drivers' expectations. Barriers will separate regular lanes from toll lanes, but all interchange movements will be provided from both sets of lanes.

JMT is currently providing final design services for the interchange pictured above, which is being advertised in two construction contracts. Contract No. 1 for the I-95/I-695 interchange, which is now under construction, is a $208 million project for which the final design was fast-tracked in only ten months and was advertised for construction on Aug. 8, 2006. Design elements for this project included 11 lane-miles of I-95, 12 lane-miles of I-695, 1 lane-mile of local roads and 16 lane-miles of ramps. JMT prepared structural design for 22 bridges, including 7 long flyover bridges, 38 retaining walls, 7 noise barriers and 5 culverts for the I-95/I-695 interchange. The often time-consuming process of right-of-way acquisition was expedited by having JMT responsible for the right-of-way acquisition and relocation assistance for more than 96 properties.

Tom Warne, a former president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and former Utah transportation chief, has been quoted as saying that this project “…rivals the complexity of some of the larger interchanges in Southern California including one in Orange County known as ‘Orange Crush’” and “This is going to put [Maryland] way at the top of complicated interchanges.”