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MD Route 198 bridge closed after washout

MD 198 Bridge
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ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — Road construction is a year long season but in Anne Arundel County it's the 198 bridge that's giving some drivers headaches as repairs are being made.

Cars speed down Laurel Fort Meade Road on Maryland Route 198 not anticipating the stop that's ahead.

The bridge over the little Patuxent River is closed due to logjam debris that caused damage.

"By having the logs pile upstream against the piers and the edges of the stream bank you basically create a dam. Water seeks its way through and what it does is actually erodes all the material in the stream bed underneath that log pile,” said Rod Thornton who is the Deputy Director at MDOT- State Highway Administration.

He said the bridge was never in danger of falling, but the fill behind the footing is washed out.

"We are in the process of cleaning that site so that we can actually put the fill back in and rebuild the approach to the bridge and then put up pavement section on top,” said Thornton.

Some drivers who don't know about the closure had to find a way out.

"They've been waiting until the last minute and flying through our parking lot, not looking, tunnel vision and doing a quick turn around,” said Devon Yeckley who works nearby at Casey Crab Company. She said it's a mess.

"Which is really unsafe because we have customers walking in and out and we are walking in and out of the parking lot dropping off food it's crazy,” said Yeckley.

Drivers like Lamar Raysor takes this route but now found out he has to pull into the parking lot to turn around, “Surprised that it was closed that's number one."

He'd like to see little more notice. "At least a sign at least back by 295 because this way is only a one way in and one way out there’s no other side roads so something back by 295 saying hey this is closed,” said Raysor.

Traffic is detoured to Patuxent Freeway and Baltimore Washington Parkway. MDOT said the repairs are going faster than thought and expects it will finish in less than two weeks.