Hospital project could close Route 662 for eight months

EASTON — As plans for University of Maryland Shore Regional Health’s new regional medical center move forward, the possibility of a temporary closure of Route 662 in Easton has become a talking point for members of the Talbot County Council.

During a June 11 meeting, UM Shore Regional Health Attorney Ryan Showalter discussed the possibility of temporarily closing the state road for reconstruction while work on the new hospital — which will be off of Longwoods Road just north of the Easton Airport — begins.

Designs for the hospital have it sitting in the middle of existing Route 662. Construction of the facility is anticipated to begin in spring 2025, with doors tentatively opening in summer 2028.

Showalter told the council that the timing of the construction could be delayed by eight months if Shore Regional Health cannot construct the building and the new route simultaneously.

Council Member Pete Lesher asked that “every possible alternative” to shutting down Route 662 be explored. His primary worry is for the county’s agricultural community.

“My biggest concern, really, is about the farm traffic,” Lesher said in an interview with The Star Democrat. “ … There are not good alternatives for the farm equipment. Farmers don’t want to be going out onto a high-speed road like Route 50 with their low-speed gear.”

In addition, Lesher doesn’t see county roads without shoulders as the safest option for farm equipment or trailing cars that may be looking for a way to pass slower farm vehicles.

“It’s just asking for an accident … it’s a clear road hazard,” he said. While U.S. Route 50 would be the official state detour, he noted county roads will see increased traffic if 662 is closed.

Trena Williamson, the regional director of communications and marketing for Shore Regional Health, said work on rerouting could begin as soon as late July or early August if final approvals come through, including from the State Highway Administration.

If work begins in July, she said the closure of Route 662 could fall into an October 2024 to May 2025 timeframe, ending right before summer beach traffic picks up.

While State Highway Administration said no official decision has been made, the agency wrote in an email statement, “Our mutual goal is a traffic management plan that allows for efficient construction while preserving public safety and maintaining sufficient local access for the many residents, farmers and others who rely on this stretch of MD 662.”

Showalter told the council June 11 that Shore Regional Health considered a “wide range of alternatives” before landing on a temporary closure.

“These options included delaying the completion of the hospital project for an additional year to build a new road, creating a bypass road, or utilizing existing roads with temporary detours,” Williamson wrote.

At the last county council meeting, Council President Chuck Callahan was supportive of the hospital and didn’t want the county to slow down its progress. Council Member Dave Stepp echoed those sentiments.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Stepp said in an interview. “We don’t want to hold things up, but we want to make sure that everything’s being considered for such a shut down.”

Lesher, Callahan and Stepp all voted in favor of an amendment for the hospital’s development rights and responsibilities agreement.

While this agreement was a step forward for the hospital’s construction, it did not include certain redlined items, such as a temporary road closure. That, instead, will come through a series of public works agreements.

“It is in those public works agreements that we have some sort of seat at the table,” Lesher said, noting that will be the council’s chance to “negotiate the timing and nature of what happens with 662.”

It is also expected that the council will hear proposed amendments to Bill 1231, an existing bill from 2013 that “conditions the transfer” of the old route to Shore Regional Health on the completion of the new road.

Stepp is looking forward to the hospital helping not just Talbot County, but surrounding counties as well. He pointed out a gap in hospital service ever since the Dorchester General Hospital in Cambridge shut down in 2021.

“It’s an exciting project; it’s one that we need,” Stepp said. “I do think it’s going to help attract good talent at an employee level. This is going to be a huge win for the Mid-Shore.”