Baltimore City's Transportation Department has announced that it will not be necessary to close all of northbound Charles Street near the Homewood campus until, most likely, spring of 2013.
The full closure of northbound Charles Street from 29th Street to University Parkway will not take place this month as previously anticipated, and significant detours around the project area will not go into effect until next year. The single southbound lane remains closed.
Accordingly, Johns Hopkins' Homewood-Peabody-JHMI shuttle will continue to use its regular northbound route up North Charles Street, with stops at 29th and 33rd streets. The planned detour up Calvert Street will become effective when North Charles Street does close next year and may be used on occasions when work interferes with the route or with shuttle stops.
This change of plans is possible because the city's project team found a way to complete preliminary utility work and reconfigure the service lane and median without fully closing northbound Charles Street to through traffic.
There are, however, important changes to be aware of. The northbound service lane is now closed to through traffic between Greenway and University Parkway. In addition, there are changes to legal parking areas along northbound Charles Street; check the new parking signs carefully. Changes like these can be expected farther to the south in the project area in coming months.
As construction progresses, there are expected to be temporary northbound lane closures in the project area even before next spring; at those times, Charles Street will not be able to carry as much northbound traffic as usual. Commuters should expect delays, particularly during rush hours and other peak hour travel times. Use alternate routes to avoid delays.
The project is expected to last until the summer of 2014. The changes announced today do not affect that schedule. Throughout the project, businesses will remain open and access along Charles Street will be maintained for local residents. For additional information and project updates, please visit http://www.CharlesStreetReconstruction.com
For Johns Hopkins-specific information, go to http://www.fm.jhu.edu/charlesstreetconstruction/
The $28 million Charles Street construction project is financed in part by a $2.5 million contribution from Johns Hopkins. You can learn more about what Charles Street will look like when the work is done at http://gazette.jhu.edu/2011/05/02/charles-street-renovation-ready-to-go/
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