Steve Burns
WMAL.com

QUEEN ANNE, Md. – (WMAL) One new lane in each direction along with a median between them are opening today on Maryland Route 404, a popular road to get from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the Delaware beaches. It’s also well known as a dangerous thoroughfare, claiming dozens of lives through the years. Maryland officials hope the improvements will also make the road safer.

“After decades of false starts and false promises, many people didn’t really believe that we actually could get it done,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said at a press conference Monday. “The corridor will now better serve Eastern Shore residents, and it will also better accommodate the seasonal traffic volume that comes with the many vacationers traveling to the beach.”

The work results in two lanes in each direction from Route 50 to Denton, along with a center median to prevent left turns. The road has seen many fatal crashes over the years, so often that a memorial to victims was set up in Denton.

Marie Freeman lost her ten-month old daughter to a crash on the road.

“I believe her short life became a pivotal point in the rebirth of the dualization effort,” Freeman said at the press conference. “State Highways and three contractors delivered what we had waited for since the 50s in a single construction season – a safer, four-lane, divided highway.”

“Your efforts, in memory of Brianna, helped move this project forward,” Hogan told Freeman. “And your efforts to honor her life will help us to save the lives of others.”

The original timeline for the project, Hogan said, pegged completion in 2020. He ordered a sped-up process, one that necessitated construction during the busy summer months.

“Here we are, just a year and a half after construction began, and we’re in 2017 instead of 2020, and we’re actually cutting the ribbon on this completed project,” he said.