Escaping Harbor East
My travels don't usually take me into the Harbor East area on weekdays at rush hour, but I happened to be down that way Thursday and Friday. That's quite a traffic mess down there -- especially for folks trying to get to the west side or Interstate 95 south.
On Thursday about 6 p.m. I tried to do it the logical, shortest-distance route: up President Street and west on Lombard Street. It was about a half-hour crawl just to get to Light Street.
On Friday, I got free about the same time but I wasn't about to try that again. I remembered what city highway officials had recommended and backtacked to Central Avenue, headed north to Orleans Street, crossed the Orleans Street bridge onto Franklin and continued to Martin Luther King Blvd. south. It was a much longer, more circuitous route with lots of lights, but it must have taken 15 minutes off the trip.
So if you're trying to get out of Harbor East or anywhere in Southeast at the evenings rush hour, remember. The shortest (temporal) distance between two points isn't a straight line.
Comments
Fastest way out of downtown is on foot to subway and these people want build another slow light rail!!!
Posted by: Mr. K | June 13, 2009 3:04 PM
that probably the worst possible route you could take. I suggest taking Central Ave up to Fayette, cut across town and shot down st paul to light.
or if you can part with $2 just go to boston to 95 and go through the tunnel, that's why it's there.
That area is going to get much worse when the Legg Mason tower opens.
Posted by: double b | June 13, 2009 3:26 PM
Or you could head East up Aliceanna and Boston Streets and use the Ft McHenry Tunnel to get to Fed Hill. Much more reliable than anything through downtown.
Posted by: GENE | June 13, 2009 4:00 PM
So....... How's that wonderful $10 million traffic-light timing system network working out for y'all, huh? Do you now see why I said it's actually WORSE since its supposed installation?
Posted by: Alexander D. Mitchell IV | June 15, 2009 9:12 AM