SALISBURY, MD -- The US 50 Business Drawbridge in downtown Salisbury is set to close this weekend for construction work. The work is expected to begin at 7 pm on Friday, May 2nd, and wrap up by 6 am on Monday, May 5th.
"It's going to be chaos I bet," Salisbury neighbor Maureen Nolan said. "Especially for a weekend, a big mess."
Nolan said she worries about how the closure will affect weekend traffic.
"They should have maybe a sign saying why they're closing it," Nolan said. "And I hope they have an alternate route for people to take so they can get back to 50 or wherever they're trying to go."
Maryland State Highway Administration (MSHA) officials said signs will be posted around the work site to direct traffic to alternate routes.
Eastbound US 50 traffic will turn left onto Lake Street, right onto Isabella Street, right onto Mill Street, and left back onto eastbound US 50, according to state officials.
Westbound US 50 traffic will turn right onto Mill Street, left onto Isabella Street, left onto Lake Street, and right back onto westbound US 50, according to state officials.
MSHA officials said the closure is needed to make repairs on the bridge's steel structure.
"I think if it's for the better, then we got to do it," Salisbury neighbor Robert Kimber said. "In order to build new projects, you have to create the infrastructure for it. So it sucks in the interim but in the long-term, I'm hopeful it'll be beneficial for traffic and things like that."
Kimber said it's a worthy inconvenience for the growing area.
"You have buildings coming up, residential, commercial," Kimber said. "So you need the roads to get to them and navigate around and things like that."
State officials said all construction on the drawbridge is expected to wrap up by mid-May.