New road construction, park additions and future plans: 2024 will be a busy year

Andrew Eshleman is always looking ahead.

As Washington County's Public Works director, he keeps tabs on lots of county operations — from public transit to county buildings to parks and recreation.

So he's been planning 2024 projects for a while already.

Eshleman spoke with The Herald-Mail last week about projects that will either be completed, go under construction or go to design in the new year, which will kick off with the opening of the next segment of Professional Boulevard — a joint project with the city of Hagerstown that's been in the works for years.

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Included are a new bridge, new road segments and widening part of the previously existing road to create a four-lane connection from Eastern Boulevard to Yale Drive along the Hagerstown's eastern edge.

Once that section's open, "the understanding is the remaining section from Yale Drive to Professional, they'll roll right into that," Eshleman said.

The last section should go a little faster "just because there's not as many site constraints and logistics to work through," he said. "We're not talking about a bridge crossing and things like that."

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Eastern Boulevard widening another key county project

Another project to watch for is construction to widen Eastern Boulevard, which also has been in the works for a while.

The project will be divided into several phases, Eshleman said, beginning with Jefferson Boulevard to Security Road.

Ultimately, he said, Eastern Boulevard will be extended behind the YMCA at 1100 Eastern Boulevard North, to connect with Marsh Pike.

"That's the part that I'm excited for, eagerly waiting, because the long term plan would be that we'd have another regional park up in that area," he said, "but obviously, we need to have the road access first."

The project had been delayed because of state requirements for a redesign at Jefferson Boulevard. "That was one reason why it didn't happen sooner," Eshleman said, "but I think in 2024 that's going to start construction."

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What else is on tap for Washington County in 2024?

Other projects on the county's agenda for 2024 include:

• Further development of the Public Safety Training Center off the Sharpsburg Pike. The first phase was completed in 2022; future plans include a tactical village with a multi-story "burn building." Eshelman said Engineering Director Scott Hobbs is involved with design work now.

• The Engineering Department also is working on designs for a new patrol office for the Washington County Sheriff's Office, which will be in the former Phoenix Color building on IOK Way. That building, Eshleman said, is currently used for the Day Reporting Center and storage.

• Designs also are being prepared for a new multipurpose building for the Washington County Agricultural Education Center.

"Now that won't be constructed in (2024), but we will have … 30% of the plans available here in the spring," Eshleman said, "and we'll look to have public meetings and community engagement on what that design and facility's gonna look like."

• Work on a new trail network for Regional Park on Mt. Aetna Road should begin in 2024.

"Most people are familiar with the developed portion of Regional Park, which is, you know, where we have the playgrounds and the pavilions," Eshleman said. "But we also have the area that people walk back where the disc golf course is, and we have other land to the south … it's a really nice scenic area back there. So we're looking to construct some additional trails back there."

The county received grant money to help pay for that project, he said.

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• Work to improve access to the Antietam Creek Water Trail will continue in 2024, Eshleman said.

"During COVID … people just got outdoors a lot more and kind of fell in love with those activities," he said, "so it seems like there's never enough parking." He said the county wants to provide more parking and is looking to do more development in the area of Antietam Drive and Security Road, which he said would become an unofficial start to the water trail.

"Ideally, we want to have access at least five-mile or less intervals so we don't have people put in to do a tubing or boating activity, and then realize that they're not going to make it and then they have to get out and trespass on people's property," Eshleman said.

Several smaller projects, including design work for renovation to the gymnasium at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, are also at various stages of development, he said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Here are some county road and park projects to watch in 2024