Here's the latest from Baltimore County:
Baltimore County Emergency Management Update Residents Asked To Move Cars From the Street Emergency managers are asking residents to move vehicles from the street, if possible, so that plows can get through once today's winter storm begins. See the "Emergency Operations Alert" at http://ui-blogs.trb.com/cgi-bin/mt/www.baltimorecountymd.gov
The Baltimore Department of Transportation is urging downtown workers to leave their job sites early and get on the road before the coming double-whammy snowstorm begins in earnest so city woekers can continue their snow removal operation.
The city is expecting 10-12 inches between now and tomorrow morning. The Downtown Partnership points out that city's snow emergtency remains in effect. That means all vehicles traveling on city roadways must be equipped with snow tires, all season radials or chains.
Parking along designated Snow Emergency Route is prohibited and the Baltimore police say they will be towing without mercy.
In what might be the most amazing development of the snowy weekend, nobody died on the state's roads, according to Maryland Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen.
The typical weekend on Maryland's roads yield several deaths, but the massive snowstorm that buried the region apparently motivated motorists to drive especially carefully.
"Drivers have been patient. They have been careful," said state Transportation Secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley.
Whether Maryland drivers can keep up that streak for long is questionable. Driving speeds on the state's highways were up markedly today as some motorists mistook improved conditions for normal.
Continue reading "No fatalities reported on MD roads this weekend" »
Gov. Martin O'Malley said today that Maryland officials are prepared to cope with a weekend snowstorm that is expected to dump and estimated 20-30 inches on the heart of the Interstate 95 corridor.
"It's going to be a big snow," O'Malley told a news conference at the state highway operations center in Hanover. "We are prepared to deal with whatever Mother Nature throws at us."
O'Malley said he has declared a state of emergency, giving the state the flexibility to draw on National Guard units to assist local first responders. The declaration could also clear the way for Maryland to receive federal emergency assistance if it meets the threshhold of 28 inches of snowfall. "We hope our federal partners measure in a snowdrift," O'Malley said.
The governor urged that motorists stay off the roads tonight and tomorrow if at all possible. "Curl up with a book and stay off the roads," he said.
With an estimated 2 feet of snow on the way, Maryland highway officials are expecting the peak evening travel time to come a couple hours early.
A State Highway Administration spokeswoman said the agency's experience with snowstorms like the one expected to engulf Maryland today and tomorrow suggests that the heaviest traffic could come at midafternoon, with volumes slacking off before sunset.
The spokeswoman said the morning rush hours into both Baltimore and Washington were especially light this morning, offeing some relief for the motorists who did venture out. Liberal leave policy is in effect for state workers, alllowing thousands of drivers to get an early start home.
AAA Mid-Atlantic is offering five tips for drivers striving to cope with the snowstorm expected to bury much of Maryland over the weekend. It's good -- and not always obvious -- advice.
AAA Mid-Atlantic’s top five last minute, common sense tips:
• Dress as if you were going to be stranded. – It can get very cold in a car on the side of the road waiting for help. Be sure to have extra blankets and to insist that children who may be traveling with you do the same.
• Open the garage door before starting the car to prevent carbon monoxide build up. - It is easy to lose track of time and carbon monoxide is almost impossible to detect and can be fatal when inhaled in a confined area.
• Bring your vehicle clearing supplies, such as your ice scraper, snow shovels, and deicer spray, inside. –Even the best prepared motorists are sometimes frustrated to wake up and find all of their supplies frozen inside the car.
• Check your antifreeze to ensure it will withstand the winter cold, using a 50/50 mixture of coolant and water to protect against freezing.
• Never pour hot water on door locks or windows to deice them, as they may crack. Frozen door locks can be overcome by carefully heating the end of a key with a match or lighter. A squirt of de-icer spray is another quick method.
Of course, the best advice at all in a Baltimore snowstorm is: Stay home until the roads are clear.
With work on the Curtis Creek drawbridge complete -- for now at least --the Maryland Transportation Authority will open the Outer Loop of the Beltway in the vicinity of Maryland Route 10 Friday morning at 7.a.m. Authority spokeswoman Teri Moss said the time of the opening had been moved forward because of a snowstorm expected to arrive later Friday.
When the Outer Loop opens, the authority will stop two-way operations on the Inner Loop. One lane of the Inner Loop will remain closed until about next Thursday. Inner Loop traffic will continue in the single remaining lane.
Inner Loop traffic will be held up periodically tonight (Thursday ) between 7 p.m. and midnight to test the bridge mechanism. The authority will also be conducting traffic drags -- designed to slow vehicles -- on the Outer Loop from midnight to 7 a.m. The authority suggest that motorists use an alternate route such as Interstate 895 or Interstate 95.
This week's traffic pattern changes will be followed by additional lane closings next week and a five-week closing of the Inner Loop at the drawbridge starting Feb. 24.
This 2010 could turn out to be a strange year indeed. First a Republican wins a Senate seat in Massachusetts. Then Toyota stumbles while GM and Ford soar.
The latest auto sales figures show Toyota sales down 16 percent in January over the same month a year ago as the Japanese automaker was forced to recall millions of vehicles for defects.
Meanwhile, GM sales rose 14 percent and Ford posted an impressive 25 percent gain. True, these numbers were being compared with a truly dismal January last year, but considering that GM at least had a highly questionable future a year ago, it's a number the company can be proud of.
Not all imported brands lagged. Nissan sales rose 16 percent and Hyundai 24 percent, but Honda slipped 5 percent. Chrysler, still hanging in there as the No. 3 domestic producer, posted a decline of 8 percent as sales of its Dodge Rams fell.
The most fascinating question is how much damage Toyota has done to its reputation for quality with its gas pedal defect and its allegedly sluggish response to alerts from the U.S. government. The company has a loyal customer bases, but this has to be causing some strain.
I've been a bit skeptical about Toyota's reputation since a bad experience with a Toyota Camry back in the 1980s and 1990s. By comparison, the GM and Ford cars I've driven have been reliable, and my current Hyundai has had a stellar record (knock on wood).
So is anybody out there weeping for Toyota? Besides the dealers, of course.
The State Highway Administration will close the ramp from southbound Charles Street to the eastbound Interstate 695 Thursday night as part of the replacement of a bridge over the Beltway.
As of Friday morning, motorists approaching the Beltway from Lutherville will be diverted to York Road until this fall. The ramp from northbound Charles to the eastbound Beltway will remain open.
On Friday morning, motorists approaching the Charles Street Interchange from Lutherville will be directed to a detour using Bellona avenue and the York Road interchange instead of Charles Street.
According to the SHA, the long-term temporary ramp closure is part of phase two of construction of the new Charles Street bridge over I-695. The project is expected to be completed in late spring 2012. The work zone is one of three in the state being monitored with speed cameras.
Late-night travelers be warned: Getting onto the Baltimore Beltway from Interstate 95 south of the city could be tricky.
According to the State Highway Administration, the ramps from northbound and southbound I-95 to westbbound Interstate 695 will close tonight and tomorrow night at 11 p.m. and remain closed until 5 a.m. Travelers will be diverted onto eastbound I-695, where they will be directed to the Hollins Ferry Road exit, where they can circle around to get on the westbound Beltway.
The highway agency said the closings will allow road crews to place pavement markings and set up concrete barriiers as part of a $3 million plan to widen the I-95 westbound ramps -- now the scene of frequent backups. The entire project is expected to take until fall to complete. Additional midday and overnight closings are expected as work progresses on the project.
Reader Michael J. Eller raised a point that I'm sure many Matyland motorists have wondered about -- the condition of lane striping on the Beltway. He wrote:
Why can't Maryland use paint/reflector lane markings that are more visible in the rain at night? On a rainy and dark night , for example, the Beltway lane markings are practically invisible. In other states the lane markings practically glow when illuminated by headlights. What's the problem with Maryland's SHA?
To which State Highway Administration spokesman Charlie Gischllar offered the following reply:
We understand that lane markings are extremely important to our customers, as they are to SHA. On top of installing line striping associated with new construction projects or newly resurfaced highways, in FY 09, SHA invested approximately $5.5 million replacing worn line striping throughout the State.
The Obama administration ratcheted up its effort to combat distracted driving Tuesday as it issued rules prohibiting drivers of large trucks and commercial buses from sending and receiving text messages while behind the wheel.
The new rule announced by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood would impose fines of up to $2,750 on commercial operators who violate the policy.
Rather than a bill passed by Congress, the regulation is based on the federal government's authority to regulate interstate commerce.
Continue reading "U.S. bans texting by truckers, bus drivers" »
Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation announced Monday that they had secured $5.6 million to help pay for road projects related to expanded employment at Fort Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground under the Pentagon’s base realignment and closing (BRAC) program.
Reps. C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes and Frank Kratovil, along with Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin, made the announcement near Route 175 and Rockenbach Road at Fort Meade – one of the intersections scheduled to be improved to accommodate increased traffic at the base. The money was included in an appropriations bill passed by Congress last month.
Fern Dickman, who lives in the 600 block of Stevenson Lane in Wiltondale, has had it up to here with the speeding in her neighborhood. Here's her story:
I'm writing to you to appeal for some kind of assistance from Baltimore County to stop the speeding traffic on Stevenson Lane. The posted speed limit is 25 MPH. Drivers fly up and down Stevenson Lane from York Road to where they have to slow down at the curve where the Country Club of Maryland is and vice versa.
The county built two small islands, one at Kimway which goes to the back side of Stoneleigh Elementary and one further down towards the golf course. In theory, cars have to slow down to make it through where the road narrows there, but current evidence of the one at Kimway proves that doesn't happen - clearly a vehicle just drove over the island and took out the tree that was planted there and left huge tire tracks.
Continue reading "A plea for speed restraint in Wiltondale" »
UPDATE: State traffic cameras show the entire west side of the Outer Loop is a complete mess at about 6:20 p.m. Work crews are still on the scene at the Wilkens interchange. Traffic is backed up at least as far as Liberty Road. It might be a day to go east and use the Harbor or Fort McHenry tunnels.
EARLIER: The State Highway Administration says a series of lane closings on the Baltimore Beltway nearr Wilkens Avenue could last through the evening rush hour.
A break in a Baltimore city-owned main has closed three lanes of the Outer Loop between Wilkens Avenue and Interstate 95. Two lanes remained open, but highway officials are urging motorists to bypass that section of the Beltway by using Interstates 70, U.S. 95 and Maryland 100.
According to the SHA, the water flow has been turned off and crews are assessing damage. Officials are warning of major delays.
Taking a cue from private industry, the State Highway Administration has introduced a new system for streamling its responses to its "customers" -- using a web-based model that will let people submit serviice requests and comments and monitor the response online.
“SHA is committed to keeping drivers, transit users, pedestrians and cyclists safe as they travel through Maryland on the state highway system,” said State Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen. “Customers are our eyes on the road and they can often alert us to an issue before it becomes a problem or safety concern. Having a convenient tool for feedback and two-way communication is invaluable.”
According to the SHA its new Customer Care Management System will make it easier to do everything from reporting a pothole to requesting a map to inquiring about the state's Adopt-A-Highway. The agency said the new system will guide customers through an easy process to make inquiries or report problems.
Maryland ranked among the top four states on the annual report card issued by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Tuesday, with a boost from its recently adopted ban on text-messaging behind the wheel.
The state was given credit for adopting 11 1/2 of the 15 model laws the auto safety group has recommended that states adopt. Achieving a high score in the ranking has become more difficult as the group has ratcheted up its goals for tougher laws.
Continue reading "Maryland ranks high on safety report card" »
A stretch of Boston Street east of Canton at Interstate 95 will be closed this weekend for bridge repairs required after a girder was damaged in a vehicle crash.
Traffic will be closed between Ponca St. and the I-95 southbound ramp to the Fort McHenry Tunnnel from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday, the Maryland Transportation Authority said. Detours will be posted.
That must have been some crash.
An interesting document found its way to me recently. It comes from within the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and it lays out the enforcement activity undertaken by the force's Special Operations Division HEAT TEAM -- a unit that patrols certain sections of Interstate 95, state toll facilities and other roads in unmarked vehicles.
The statistics, as of Dec. 5, show some interesting trends. Members of the team have been far more likely this year to give warnings than traffic tickets. Last year, the number of warnings (2820) and the number of citations (2622) were running about even. This year, the number of warnings (3160) was almost double the number of citations. Does this indicate the MdTA Police are getting soft on speeders? Or are they trying to cut down on court overtime hours, which are running at about half last year's level?
Sun photo/Jed Kirschbaum
One of the puzzling questions surrounding the whole issue of drunk driving is why more people who indulge in alcohol don't invest in the cost of a taxi to get themselves home. Even if it's a $50 or $60 ride, it's sure a lot cheaper than the costs of hiring a lawyer, paying a fine, mandatory alcohol education programs and all the other costs associated with a DUI bust.
This New Year's Day weekend, AAA Mid-Atlantic, Yellow Cab and the State Highway Administration are leaving Baltimore revelers no excuse for failing to take a taxi after celebratiing at a local watering hole. They're offering free taxi rides, up to a total of $50, to drinkers in Baltimore. (Passengers pay any balance over $50.)
The Tipsy? Taxi! program will be available on New Year’s Eve, New Year's Day and Saturday, Jan. 2, from midnight to 4:00 am. Rider must be at least 21 and have been drinking at a restaurant or bar in the city. Call 1-877-963-TAXI to schedule a taxi ride.
Some 110 wise imbibers took advantage of the program last New Year's Day weekend. The program, which is offered during the holiday weekends most associated with alcohol consumption, has provided an estimated 1,500 rides since it was first introduced. This year the program will be offered on St. Patrick's Day, the Fourth of July and Halloween.
Now if we could just add Cinco de Mayo and the Preakness.
The Greater Greater Washington blog is calling out Montgomery County Councilwoman Nancy Floreen on her opposition to the toll plan the Maryland Transportation Authority adopted for the Intercouncty Connector.
GGW writer David Alpert notes that Floreen is a longtime supporter of the ICC who has known for years that the highway was being built as a toll road and that the rates were unlikely to be cheap. Alpert points out that Montgomery elected officials ans wannabes are lusting over statewide revenue sources to keep their rides on the ICC cheap or even free.
To some extent, this is all just posturing for the home folks. But Baltimore resiidents need to keep a wary eye on these Montgomery folks lest they start getting some traction for their diversionary schemes.
Whether you support the ICC or oppose it (and I'll stay neutral), it was never intended to be an inexpensive road. Nor was it ever planned that it would have to be supported by sales taxes, slots revenue or higher tolls than are already being paid at existing toll facilities.
Alpert astutely points out that the cycle of demanding a road then complaining about its cost is beginning anew with the proposed widening of Interstate 270. Make no mistake, the cost of express toll lanes on I-270 would make the ICC tolls look like chump change.
Are you planning to head home to the Northeast to the holidays on Christmas Eve? Are you dreading the slog up Interstate 95, with all the tolls and bottlenecks and congestion and the ever-present threat of a tractor-trailer mishap turning the highway into a parking lot?
There may be a better way.
Continue reading "Dreading the trip north on 95? There's another way" »
The Maryland Transportation Authority has taken appropriate action on the toll structure for the Intercounty Connector, but some of our friends down in Montgomery County are still whining that they want the governor of the General Assembly to intervene so users of the ICC doen't have to pay as much.
Never mind that such an intervention would trash the authority's bond rating and increase the state's cost of borrowing. It's all about Montgomery.
One of the more amusing suggestions for transferring the costs of the ICC from its users to resiidents of Baltimore and other parts of the state comes from long-ago delegate, notorious loudmouth and perennial political wannabe Robin Ficker. On the Maryland Politics Watch blog, he writes: "There is no reason why we can't use a penny of the sales tax and some of the slots money to pay for a toll-free ICC."
Apart from disasters, transportation stories tend to unfold over the course of many years. Some of the ones that garner big headlines at the time will be all but forgotten in a few years time. So in choosing the Top 10 Maryland transportation stories of the past decade, it helps to project forward to 2020 or 2030 and look back at what made a lasting difference.
A little disclosure is in order. I have covered transportation for The Sun since 2004 and before that followed many transportation-related stories as a State House Bureau reporter. So there might be a bias in favor of the stories I covered. (Thanks to my colleague Scott Calvert to reminding me of the Howard Street Tunnel fire, which occurred before my time on the beat.)
With those caveats, I present my top 10 in the bottom-to-top format made wildly popular by David Letterman:
10. Light rail double-tracking project completed. When Baltimore's light rail system opened early in the 1990s, it soon became clear that the system had been built on the cheap. The decision to run trains on a single track over long stretches led to constant delays and operational difficulties. Thus, under the Glendening administration, the decision was made to add a second track. The Ehrlich administration then made a tough decision to expedite the work by closing down the southern and northern stretches of the system for periods of about a year. It was a rough time for light rail users, but the project was finally completed in early 2006, and the result has been much more reliable service on this still image-impaired system.
Sun photo/Amy Davis/2006
Continue reading "Top 10 Md. transportation stories: 2000-2009" »
Last weekend’s record December snowfall cost the Maryland Department of Transportation a budget-busting $26.9 million for snow removal, Transportation Secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley said Tuesday. The storm, which dumped an estimated 16-26 inches on various parts of the state, required a massive and expensive response by all of the transportation department’s operating agencies – from the State Highway Administration to the Motor Vehicle Administration.
The largest share was accounted for by the highway agency, with $20 million in costs. After several earlier snowfalls, the SHA’s spending on snow removal has reached $27 million this season -- exceeding its budget of $26 million with more than two months of winter to go, according to MDOT. Snow removal at BWI Marshall Airport cost $2.7 million, while the Maryland Transit Administration spent $2.3 million to keep its buses and transit lines rolling. The Maryland Transportation Authority spent $1.1 million to clear thhe state’s toll facilities, while it cost the port of Baltimore $533,000 to keep its terminals operating..
"Combating a storm like the one Maryland faced this weekend is a necessary but expensive proposition," Swaim-Staley said. "Agency administrators understand that they will have to make adjustments in other areas of their operating budgets to cover any overage of their annual snow removal budget."
While I was on vacation last week, the Maryland Transportation Authority took a vote on the toll structure for the Intercounty Connector. Not only did the board do right by the Baltimore region by brushing aside howls from Montgomery County that the tolls would be too high, the nine-member body made some wise improvements to the original plan.
By approving peak rates as high as 35 cents a mile, the board did its best too make sure that ICC users pay as much of the cost of building the highway as possible. Giving them a break, as demanded by the Montgomery County Council and other elected officials, would have created a shortfall that likely would have had to be made up for with toll increases at bridges, tunnels and highways that are heavily used by Baltimore-area residents.
AP Photo
On Dec. 5, a 47-year-old Ellicott Ciry man was killed in a crash on Route 100 near U.S. 29 during a relatively minor snowstorm that preceded last weekend's monster. Reader Robert I. Jeffrey of Columbia came across the scene of the fatality shortly afterward, and it prompted the following inquiry:
I arrived on the scene (see story below) about 45 minutes afterward. It is truly tragic and might have been prevented. I think it's worthy of some follow-up.
Scott Offutt has a thought-provoking proposal on the Greater Greater Washington blog for the revenue generated by speed cameras and red light cameras that could overcome some people's suspicions that they are installed strictly to generate revenue.
The thought his idea provoked for me was that the revenues could be more effectively targeted than the general distribution of proceeds he proposes.
I would use any revenue beyond that which necessary to operate the system into rebates to owners whose Maryland-registered vehicles had not received any camera-generated tickets in the preceding years. These could take the form of vouchers to offset the high cost of registering a vehicle in Maryland. This could be an especially attractive program for employers who operate large fleets, and it would certainly provide an added incentive for them to adopt strict anti-speeding policies for their employees.
Instead of what some perceive as a government revenue grab, now you have a transfer of money from bad drivers to law-abiding motorists. The more speed cameras, the more money to distribute to good drivers. What's not to love?
The American Beverage Institute opposes mandatory ignition interlocks for first-time drunk driving convictions. So Sarah Kapenstein of the institute couldn't wait to share an item from the group's blog with me and my readers.
Essentially, what the institute is doing is trying to use the tragic case of Thomas Meighan, the man accused of killing Johns Hopkins student Miriam Frankl (right) in a hit-and-run, to advance its position. Meighan, a serial drunk driver, is charged with operating a motor vehicle in defiance of an order to use an interlock device.
At first, I thought this was a classic case of lobbyist logic -- using one high-profile failure as an excuse to scrap an otherwise good idea. But on reflection, the institute raises a good question -- even if it does so in a crass way. Proponents of using the interlocks for first-time offenders need to make the case that requiring the the Motor Vehicle Administration to monitor large numbers of drivers ordered to use ignition interlocks devices wouldn't degrade current efforts to keep tabs on the hard-core offenders.
Continue reading "Can state track thousands of interlocks?" »
Maryland Transportation Authority photo
Sometimes the things government transportation agencies do -- and undo -- are baffling to ordinary travelers. A smart, useful innovation appears -- only to disappear mysteriously. Seldom does the public learn why.
Readers of this blog can now learn about the Case of the Purple Dots at the Fort McHenry Tunnel thanks to a perceptive question from reader Mary McDonald about the Fort McHenry Tunnel Toll Plaza (above) and a refreshingly candid response from Teri Moss of the Maryland Transportation Authority (awkwardly abbreviated below as MDTA).
Continue reading "The curious case of the purple dots explained" »
AP photo
The item below illustrates my contention that environmental groups that once spent a llot of effort fighting the Intercounty Connector need to accept the fact they lost, stop sulking and get engaged in the issues surrounding the opening of the toll road.
Many of these opponents are so emotionally affected by their defeat that they can't get their heads around the fact that the ICC is for all intents and purposes existing infrastructure. And existing infrastructure, as anyone who took Smart Growth 101 knows, is something to be valued and put to maximum use.
Continue reading "ICC foes ought to stop sulking, get in the game" »
The opening of the first phase of the Intercounty Connector is not expected before next October, but Maryland is preparing for its debut by ordering 18 commuter "clean diesel" buses for eventual transit service on the highway.
The Maryland Department of Transportation’s recently awarded, $9.1 million contract for purchase of the buses (pictured above) from Motor Coach Industries of Schaumburg, Ill., will go to the Board of Public Works for approval next week.
Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and state Transportation Secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley will lead a ceremony Wednesday in Annapolis to commemorate the lives people who lost their lives in drunken-driving crashed in Maryland.
Relatives and friends of the victims will hold a procession during which they will add photographs of those who were killed to a display at the Milller Senate Office Building,
The Maryland Remembers event begins at 10:45 a.m. Last year 152 people were killed in crashes in Maryland in which intoxication was a factor.
Sun photo/Amy Davis/2007
A reader named Jackie Watts wrote in to point out that during the unpleasantness of last weekend's snowfall, many Maryland drivers stubbornly refused to adjust their speed in any way to slippery conditions. She discerned that this behavior is especially prevalent among drivers of huge SUVs.
I have hesitated to jump into the batttle eternal between SUV owners and those of us in vehicles of more modest dimensions. But I have to say Jackie is right. During the heaviest snowfall Saturday, I noticed that SUV drivers were in many cases barreling down the road at 55 and up as a thick, goopy snow was falling.
There were a few years in the 1990s when I regularly drove an SUV. When I finally got rid of it, I noticed that my cognition suddenly improved. Perhaps the air gets a little thin up there in those high seats. So those who drive the big beasts would do well to pay heed to Jackie:
Would you mind reminding (again) SUV drivers that their vehicles are no better in ice and snow than, say, my Chevy Cobalt? I had to go to Pikesville Saturday evening for a wedding and reception and passed one accident, a fender-bender, on the Beltway on my way to at about 6 p.m. and three accidents--one at Reisterstown Road by the Beltway entrance, one on the Jones Falls Expressway near Ruxton Road and one farther down, between Northern Parkway and Coldspring Lane, at about 11 p.m.
Continue reading "A reader's warning: SUVs not immune to snow" »
Let's stipulate up front that the 152 drunken-driving deaths on Maryland roads in 2008 was 152 too many.
Nevertheless, that number represents significant progress in a state that registered 178 deaths related to alcohol impairment the previous year. Maryland's improvement vaulted it into the top tier of states in terms of fewest drunken-driving fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Continue reading "Maryland drunken-driving numbers improve" »
After last weekend's tragic crash in which a 17-year-old River Hill High School football player was killed in Howard County, AAA Mid-Atlantic issues a warning against the dangers of riding in the bed of a pickup truck.
Stephen Joseph Dankos dies when he was thrown from the cargo area of a pickup truck that crashed while being driven by a friend's 22-year-old brother, who was subsequently charges with drunk driving, vehicular homicide and vehicular manslaughter.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 200 deaths occur every year on U.S. roads as a result of carrying passengers from pickup truck beds. AAA noted that the Maryland law forbidding riding in the back of a pickup truck does not apply to people 16 or older. It exempts those under 15 if the vehicle is traveling less than 25 mph.
In its January 2010 edition, Automobile magazine ranks the best and worst states for drivers -- and Maryland comes in as the second-worst in the country.
The Free State can take a certain satisfaction in its 49th place showing -- only California ranked lower -- because many of the criteriia for a poor ranking are patently juvenile. According to the editors of Automobile, the ideal state is one with lax traffic laws and little enforcement. Maryland gets dinged for its relatively high ranking in such measures as "how many cops are prowling the highways." In adult-speak, that translates into how many police officers are enforcing traffic laws to ensure the safety of the magazine's readers.
Maryland also gets demerits for speed cameras and red light cameras, which the publication classifies as "harassment." Funny, when camera laws are debated the opponents fall all over themselves insisting that nothing but a real cop on the street will do. The editors also don't like the fact that Maryland takes part in a driver's license compact that ensures that out-of-state lawbreaking is reflected on a driver's record. Helping propel Maryland onto the list of "most aggravating" states is the onerous requirement that auto owners have front tags mounted on their cars. That certainly is a form of hell for drivers who don't want to be identified when committing crimes.
One area in which Maryland did not fare badly was the cost of driving. Its "cost index" was computed at 13 -- a middle-of-the-road score. By contrast, the index in California and Indiana stood at 25.
It will be interesting to see how the editors of Automobile conduct such surveys after they grow up.
Jim Struder of Edgewood isn't one of those folks who finds a new route to a difficult destination and then keeps it to himself. He found a way to bypass the Interstate 95 madness last Wednesday and is sharing.
Last Wed I had to drive from Harford County to College Park and back to bring home my son for Thanksgiving. His last class did not end until 4:00 PM, so even though southbound I-95 was a fairly easy drive, I knew we were doomed on the return trip.
After considering the traffic, I decided to try an alternate return route. I hopped on Rte 201 (Kenilworth Ave) up to the capital beltway and headed towards Andrews AFB, getting off at Rte 50 and taking it over to Rte 3, then I-97, then the beltway over the Key Bridge. Finally I finished by going up Rte 7 versus I-95. It worked like a charm. The trip took maybe 10 more minutes then the usual route up I-95 normally takes during heavy traffic hours.
I think there were two keys. The first is that holiday traffic passing through the area would have no clue that this alternate route exists, and the second is that – surprisingly – motorists on both Rte 50 and I-97 did not exhibit the “electronic sign phenomenon” I’ve witnessed repeatedly on I-95. The traffic barely slowed for the signs as opposed to the brake jamming which (during peak hours) results in a stop and go situation for several miles before each electronic sign on I-95.
Just thought I’d pass this on. Take care.
Jim, you're a great dad. But one of these years, take it easy and let the kid find his way back to Edgewood on the MARC train annd light rail. That'll cut down on the amount of laundry coming home. And let's face it, you've done your share of schlepping over the years.
I just noticed some news from the Roanoke Times about one of my least favorite roads -- Interstate 81 in Virginia. It seems a series of crashes along that interstate led to ferocious backups Sunday just as many people were heading back from Thanksgiving visiits.
I-81 is a particularly scary road because of its heavy truck traffic. It is one of the top truck routes in the country even though it has only two lanes in each direction for much of its length. With many severe curves and steep hills, the highway accounts for a large number of truck-involved crashes.
For Baltimoreans traveling south toward Charlotte, N.C., and other destinations, I strongly recommend U.S. 29 as an alternative. Once you get past Warrenton, Va., 29 moves as briskly as in interstate all the way through Virginia -- and with much lighter traffic than I-81. For travelers to the Shenandoah Valley who aren't in a rush, a leisurely trip on historic U.S. 11 can make more sense that playing tag with tractor-trailers on I-81.
There are various proposals in the works too upgrade Interstate 81 and to finance the improvements with tolls. With the recession, they all seem to be on the slow track.
Montgomery County has a weird, wacky political culture. Voters there consistently elect Democrats who profess to be liberals and dedicated environmentalists, but county elected officials and planners there are strangely obsessed with transportation mega-projects that elevate the singly occupied personal vehicle to iconic status. It's a bit like Houston with GS-15 jobs but no decent barbecue.
Ben Ross of the Action Committee for Transit provides a welcome counterpoint to this autocentric group think that seems to dominate Montgomery County government. One has to wonder why more people there aren't questioning plans to spend $89 million on a Bethesda parking garage in an area that is slated for a Purple Line light rail station.
From a Baltimore point of view, Montgomery is a faraway land where people are welcome to all the boondoggles thay want to pay for out of their own pockets, but there are valid concerns that the county will try to backfill some of the money it plans to spend on this project with state transportation dollars.
One can only hope that the Maryland Department of Transportation and the General Assembly budget committees will be vigilant in seeing this doesn't happen.
SubsidyScope, a publication of the Pew Charitable Trusts, reports that “user fees” such as gas taxes, registration fees, titling taxes and tolls account for only 51 percent of U.S. highway costs – compared with 71 percent 40 years ago. The rest must be subsidized out of general accounts.
So the private vehicle owner is as much a ward of the state as the city bus rider. It’s just a matter of degree.
Fundamentally, there's nothing wrong with paying for transportation out of general revenues. Whether we remain rooted in one place all our lives or travel the world like Marco Polo, we collectively benefit from the mobility that modern transportation systems bring.
What's useful about the SubsidyScope report is that it debunks the notion that auto travel is robust, libertarian, market-driven transportation and that mass transit is a socialistic boondoggle. Clearly, any healthy modern society needs a mixture of both roads and transit -- paid for by any means the public finds to be the least unpalatable.
AAA is forecasting a 1.4 percent increase in Thanksgiving travel over last year's recession-battered holiday, pointing to what appears to be a modest improvement in economic activity.
According to AAA, about 38.4 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home between next Wednesday and the Sunday after the hoiliday. Travel by automobile is expected to increase by 2.1 percent to 33.2 milllion.
But air travel is expected to be off by 6.6 percent. Air travel is expected to account for only 6 percent of Thanksgiving travel, continuing a downward trend that has persisted for a decade.
Are you one of those unlucky souls who will be leaving the Baltimore area by car about midday the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for a family gathering?
Is your destination someplace truly grueling to reach at peak times such as Long Island, northern New Jersey or Connecticut? Or, perhaps, Richmond, Raleigh or Charlotte?
Would you be willing to stay in contact by phone or email and describe your ordeal for this blog and an article in the Baltimore Sun?
We'd like to evaluate the different routes and strategies people can employ when they can't avoid the peak hours. If you're willing to participate, please drop a line to michael.dresser@baltsun.com. Make the subject line Travel so it stands out from the spam? Thanks.
The Dixon administration is expected to bring two contracts before the Board of Estimates Wednesday cementing its 2-year-old accord with CSX under which the railroad will pay roughly three-quarters of the cost of replacing two of the city’s most deteriorated bridges.
After years of wrangling, the city and CSX reached agreement in principle on the formula for paying for the replacement of the Fort Avenue and Sinclair Lane bridges in Oct. 2007. But it has taken two years to work out details.
The delay, according to city deputy transportation director Jamie Kendrick, was the result of “a thousand details and lots of lawyers but other than that it was easy.”
Under the contracts, which CSX has already signed, the railroad will pay 75 percent of the construction costs and 100 percnet of the engineering costs on the Fort Avenue bridge. The city willl contribute the other quarter of the building costs.
That bridge was the subject of public protests by a Locust Point woman named Karen Johns (above), who became well-known in the city as ‘The Bridge Lady.” Johns badgered elected officials to put pressure on CSX to replace the visibly crumbling bridge, which was built in 1920 and scored 36 points out of 100 – a failing grade -- on a recent inspection.
Sun photo/Kim Hairston
Continue reading "Baltimore, CSX finalize agreement on bridges" »
After the experience of going through this week's nor'easter with just one bridge to the mainland, Ocean Mayor Rick Meehan said he's going to ask the State Highway Administration to add a second span to the Route 90 bridge (above).
The current bridge, which feeds into the barrier island at 60th Street, has been shut down last month for emergency repairs (below) to an eroded girder.
Adding a new two-lane bridge to supplement the existing span would be a very expensive project, and given the woes of the state transportation budget, the mayor may have a long wait ahead.
SHA spokesman Dave Buck said there are no plans in the works to add capacity to the Route 90 bridge, which at about 35 years old is a relative youngster in infrastructure terms. Buck noted that Worcester County already has some other big-ticket items higher on its priority list, including the rehabilitation or replacement of the U.S. 50 bridge, which is 66 years old and showing its age. If replacement is the option selected, that could be a $500 million project, he said.
State Highway Administration photo
A colleague who works nights encountered a change in her commute home and wondered what brought it about:
At one time you could turn right on red onto northbound Charles from westbound Mount Royal. Now you cannot do that. The two right lanes or so of Charles north of Mount Royal are torn up now with roadwork. But before that happened, the light was changed so that the two lanes of Mount Royal continuing west across Charles get a green light, while the two right-turning lanes still have a red light.
Is it this way because of the construction? Could (it be OK) to turn right on red after a certain time (7 p.m. seems most common)? Could the light be programmed to allow all the traffic to move thru the intersection at some time if it’s not safe to do so earlier in the day? Thanks. Any light you can shed on this will be appreciated.
Those questions were posed to Kathy Chopper, spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation, who had this explanation:
At one time, motorists were able to make right turns onto Charles from westbound Mount Royal, but that traffic pattern was recently changed. The City of Baltimore worked with the University to adjust signal timing and eliminate right turns on red at that intersection due to the heavy amount of pedestrian traffic.
The right turns on red were eliminated to provide enough time for pedestrians to cross in a safe manner. These changes were not related to the construction that is taking place in the area.
My question would be how many pedestrians there are to protect around midnight, when my colleage passes through the intersection.
When Adam Pagnucco is on his game, he does as good a job as anyone of explaining transportation politics in Maryland. His posting today on Maryland Politics Watch is a good example of that.
It seems the Montgomery County Council has achieved rare unanimity in coalescing around an expensive scheme (in the billions though not definitively priced) to add two express toll lanes to Interstate 270 from Shady Grove to Frederick. Pagnucco notes that the idea of a wider I-270 has strong support from elected leaders in Montgomery County and Frederick County.
That should come as no big surprise. Express toll lanes would be a great bargain for residents of those areas. First of all, the tolls collected on I-270 would pay only a fraction of the costs. The up-front costs would probably have to be borne by users of the state's other toll facilities -- who tend to be residents of Maryland jurisdictions other than Montgomery and Frederick.
That's one of many reasons that Pagnucco's link to Baltimore takes you to this blog.
It's time the rest of the state put Montgomery on notice about this project: If you want it so much, figure out a way to build it without money from the state's other toll facilities. Tolls are already likely to go much higher just to cover existing obligations and more worthy capital projects, and users of the Fort McHenry Tunnel and the Key Bridge aren't going to willingly pay even more for a bay-polluting boondoggle that brings them zero benefit.
Carole Feldman of the Associated Press reports that there will be fewer rest stops open for travelers on the interstates this Thanksgiving weekend.
Some states have closed stops in order to cut budgets strapped by recession-related revenue declines. Especially hard hit has been Virginia, which closed 19 of its 42 rest stops.
In Maryland, the rest stops along Interstate 70 on South Mountain near the Frederick-Washington county line have been closed for remodeling and will reopen next year. The Bay Country Welcome Center on U.S. 301 in Queen Anne's County has been closed, along with the Sideling Hill Interpretive Center in Western Maryland, but the rest rooms at both facilities remain open. Other rest stops remain open.
The Montgomery County Council, led by Chairman Phil Andrews, might just have opened a door they would have preferred to keep closed.
Ben Ross of the Action Committee for Transit points out that the solution Andrews suggested and the Council endorsed for relieving congestion in the Interstate 270 corridor -- the addition of two reversible express lanes between Shady Grove and Frederick -- is not one of the alternatives included in the State Highway Administration's I-270 Corridor Study.
To move in the direction the Council suggests would require a new study of the plan's costs and feasibilty, Ross notes. So if transportation officials decide to reopen the study to examine one plan, Ross asks, why not open it up to other alternatives -- including ACT's suggestion of an all-transit option for relieving the corridor's stress?
It seems to me that Ross has a point. A lot has happened since transit was last looked at, including massive cost increases for some of the alternatives that have been studied. I'd also like to have them take a glance, at least, at my suggestion of a single reversible lane for buses and high-occupancy vans only at peak times. (Let trucks use it off-peak to separate them from cars.)
Some proponents of widening I-270 to the max have dismissed the notion of any further study -- insisting it will only delay the project. But all you have to do is look at the finances of the Maryland Transportation Authority and you'll see it may be a long time before any project of the magnitude of an I-270 widening can be financed.
So let's study away: the Andrews plan, the Ross plan, the off-the-wall-Baltimore-Guy plan, whatever.
AP Photo
The cost estimate for building the Intercounty Connector has held steady over the past year, with no change to last year's estimate of $2.566 billion.
The State Highway Administration and Maryland Transportation Authority certified that figure last week in its annual report to the Federal Highway Administration. The agencies told the federal government the work on the thrre main contracts for the ICC -- taking it from Interstate 370 to Interstate 95 -- are all on time or slightly ahead of schedule.
Work on the western end of the ICC -- from Georgia Avenue to I-370 -- was 60 percent complete as of September and is expected to be completed in late 2010. (It will be interesting to see if the contractor can finish before the gubernatorial election.)
The other two segments leading to I-95, close to half complete in some places, are expected to open in late 2011 or early 2012.
A short segment leading to U.S. 1 has been delayed until 2013, while some work on the feeder routes from I-95 to the ICC has been pushed back to 2017.
There are no big surprises here. It's a case where no news is good news.
Maryland Politics Watch reports that Montgomery County Council President Phil Andrews has come out in favor of a more modest, somewhat less expensive plan to widen Interstate 270 -- the project this blog has dubbed the Sprawlway for its likely effect on northern Montgomery, Frederick County and places even farther from Washington.
Andrews is calling on his colleagues to seek construction of two additional lanes on I-270 betweeen Shady Grove and Frederick. He would make them reversible, carrying southbound traffic in the morning and northbound in the evening -- and would finance them partly by charging tolls on singly-occupied vehicles in the fast lanes.
To give credit where it's due, Andrews' proposal is less egregious than the county planning board's call to spend $4.6 billion to add two express toll lanes in each direction. That gold-plated proposal would be the most costly transportation project ever undertaken in Maryland by far.
Andrews' proposal is more on the order of silver-plated and earns the title of Sprawlway Lite. It would still be enormously expensive and it would still contribute to the outward expansion of McMansions. Also, the proposal would continue to concentrate growth in an already saturated corridor far from Baltimore instead of leveraging the Intercounty Connector to bring more growth to the center of the state.
Anyone proposing such a project up front must also acknowledge that the tolls for those express lanes are likely to make the charges proposed for the ICC look like a bargain. They also can't relieve congestion too much, because the state can't make money if there are no traffic jams to escape.
Andrews proposes that constructiion of the Corridor Cities Transitway, a mass transit extension of the Metro Red Line through the I-270 corridor to Clarksburg, take precedence. He is urging colleagues to endorse Bus Rapid Transit as the mode of travel, a potentially controversial but fiiscallly prudent choice.
Going forward with that project separately from the I-270 widening is wise because the latter will be a hard sell to the rest of the state. Maryland faces a long list of much-needed toll-financed projects to preserve or replace exiisting infrastructure. Any scheme to widen I-270 would have to get in line.
The Montgomery Council could act on Andrews' recommendation as early as Tuesday.
Folks for whom it's an article of faith that roads are paid for with the gas tax while transit bleeds the body public might want to ignore this article from DC.StreetsBlog.org on the high cost of highways and who ends up paying for them.
In short, Rep. Mike Kursee says roads cover only a small part of their costs in his state and that taxes raised in the cities go to extend roads out into rural areas. He has some candid comments about the state of the nation's transportation finances.
The article doesn't say, but Krusee is a Republican.
The Baltimore Department of Transportation will close several blocks of Howard Street and Saratoga Street next week in order to rebuild that intersection.
The department announced that it would close Saratoga Street between Park Avenue and Eutaw Street and Howard Street between Fayette and Mulberry streets has from 9 a.m. Monday through 6 p.m. Friday. The light rail will continue to operate on Howard Street.
The cityt suggested that motoriists use alternate routes such as Franklin or Fayette streets instead of Saratoga. In place of Howard Street, it suggested Paca or Charles streets.
A reader posted these questions to the Getting There blog. I thought they were worth answering by going straight to the source -- Dave Buck of the State Highway Adminiistration. Here are the questions:
I recall hearing that (Gov. Robert L. ) Ehrlich passed a project to widen the West side outer loop of the Beltway to four lanes and it would start around 2009 or 2010.
What's the status on that?Also, what about the triple bridges connecting I-70 to I-695? A ton of traffic just sits on the ramp from I-70 trying to get onto the Inner Loop of the Beltway. The bridges are also built in such a way that only three lanes in each direction can get through on the Beltway and there is no shoulder. What is the plan to fix that?
Continue reading "Beltway widening projects depend on finding funds" »
Here's an interesting tidbit from deputy Baltimore transportation director Jamie Kendrick's talk to the Downtown Partnership this morning:
More than 86% of Baltimore’s land area is within ½ mile of a school – and in one month alone, using just two cameras along 33rd street, we issued 1,462 warning citations to drivers going more than 12 mph over the speed limit. We are drop dead serious about reducing unsafe speeds in Baltimore.
Are the 1,462 who received the warnings...
a.) Oppressed victims of Big Brother.
b.) Hard-working Americans who were just in a little bit of a hurry.
c.) Negligent, irresponsible drivers who could have easily moved down a schoolkid and who are lucky to have gotten off with a warning.
Vote here:
c. _____
c. _____
c. _____
It's good to be the blog king.
I pass this alert on just as it came in from my former Sun colleague Jon Morgan. I see no way I can improve on it:
News Alert
03:30 PM EST Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Evening traffic backups likely in Montgomery
Technicians have yet to resolve a malfunction with the computerized system that
controls 750 traffic lights across Montgomery County, which will probably mean a
repeat of Wednesday morning's massive backups during the evening rush.
AAA Mid-Atlantic has issued a timely reminder that Maryland's deer population is in the amorous throes of late autumn, when the sex-besotted beasts are especially likely to jump into the path of your vehicle while in the single-minded pursuit of a mate.
The results can be deadly -- and not just for the deer. In 2007, the last year on recoord, two people died and 458 were injured in 1,962 animal-vehicle crashes, according to the Deer-Vehicle Crash Information Clearinghouse.
According to AAA, the average property damage claim from a deer-vehicle crash was $3,300.
“Keep in mind, with increased development, deer habitat has decreased and deer are interacting and living closer to humans,” saiid AAA spokeswoman Ragina Averella. “Drive defensively and be alert, particularly near wooded areas along local roadways. Most deer-vehicle collisions occur on two-lane roads bordered by natural habitat."
AAA offered the following tips for dealing with deer on the road:
• Buckle up and do not speed. A decrease in speed gives you more time to react.
AP Photo
Somewhat belatedly I came across this Sept. 30 editorial in The Gazette of Montgomery County on the proposed tolls for the Intercounty Connector.
On the one hand, it's a hoot because the Gazette was an unabashed cheerleader for the ICC during the long debate over whether to build it. Yet, in the editorial, it seems to have just awakened to the realization that the state plans to finance it with tolls that would rise periodically to prevent congestion. That has only been public knowledge since 2003, when the Ehrlich administration first floated the idea.
On the other hand, this is a wake-up call that some folks in Montgomery are trying to renegotiate the terms of what should be a done deal. The financing package for the ICC was wrapped up and given the tacit approval of the General Assembly back in 2004-2005. The idea then and now was that users of the ICC would foot a large chunk of the bill. All parties to the deal knew then that the ICC would be an expensive ride. The only question was how much.
The question the Maryland Transportation Authority has to ask is where it will get the revenue to pay off the bonds if it overrules its consultant and grants toll relief to ICC users for purely political reasons. The danger for the Baltimore area is that it would begin looking toward other toll facilities to make up the difference. Those facilities are concentrated in the Baltimore region and are already being milked to help build the ICC.
Maryland is giving drivers who get caught by speed cameras going too fast in work zones at least two more weeks to clean up their act before they face $40 fines.
The State Highway Administration, Maryland Transportation Authority and the Maryland State Police said they are extending the one-month grace period that began when the state's new speed camera law took effect Oct. 1. According to the highway administration, more than 900 warnings have gone out to drivers who were exceeding the speed limit in work zones by at least 12 mph.
"We are extending the warning phase because our goal isn't to 'catch' speeders, but to give citizens an opportunity to change dangerous driving behaviors" before the State Police and Transportation Authority Police begin issuing tickets, said state Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen.
SHA spokeswoman Valerie Burnette Edgar said that the warning period was extended because it took about two weeks after Oct. 1 for the first warnings to be processed and sent out. She said officials wanted to make sure motorists had fair warning before sending out actual citations.
The extended warning period applies to work zones only and not to violations detected by speed cameras in school zones.
Sun photo
Del. Kumar Barve, a Montgomery County Democrat, is one of the smartest (and funniest) members of the House of Delegates. Largely for that reason, Speaker Michael E. Busch chose him to be majority leader of the House of Delegates.
Barve is also a fierce advocate on behalf of his constituents in the Gaithersburg area and has been a consistent advocate of building the Intercounty Connector. Now, with that road closing in on the opening of its first phase next year, Barve has weighed in on the Maryland Transportation Authority's proposed toll rates. He sent me a copy of his recent testimony on those rates at a public hearing in Gaithersburg. For reasons, I'll state below, I think he's way off base. But first let's give the delegate his say:
For the record: I am Delegate Kumar Barve. I represent Gaithersburg, Garrett Park and Rockville, Maryland. I serve as the Majority Leader of the Maryland House of Delegates, but more importantly, I am the Chairman of the Revenue Subcommittee of the Ways & Means Committee. This is important because state tax and transportation policy is under the jurisdiction of that committee. It is about a major matter of undebated public policy that I wish to discuss.
Those of you who have been following the never-ending saga of the Intercounty Connector probably know already that it will open as a toll road without toll booths. Money will be collected either through E-ZPass or by photographing motorists' license plates and sending them a bill.
But here's an interesting tidbit from the consultant's study used by the Maryland Transportation Authority to guide its decision on where to set toll levels: one in five of those who use the ICC without E-ZPass are expected to be deadbeats.
That's right. Wilbur Smith Associates has adjusted its revenue projections downward to account for "leakage" because of toll evasion or otherwise uncollectable tolls, It puts the level of leakage for video toll collections at 20 percent, compared with 2 percent of E-ZPass users. That may explain why the ICC bills are expected to include a $3 fee to defray the cost of collecting the toll. Besides encouraging the use of E-ZPass, it may be needed to plug some of that leakage.
Eight Montgomery county legislators have signed a letter to the County Council questioning an all-transit plan for improving traffic flow in the Interstate 270 corridor. Maryland Politics Watch reports.
To put that in context, there are 32 Montgomery County senators and delegates, so the group organized by Sen. Rob Garagiola makes up one-quarter of the delegation. They also favor light rail as the mode of travel for the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway, which would connect communities in the I-270 corriidor.
MPW does a good job of describing the muddled stance taken bby some Montgomery legislators, some of whom favor the all-transit plan proposed by Action Committee for Transit except when they oppose it.
This would be just another arcane dispute within Montgomery if it weren't for the fact they're wrangling over the fate of a plan to spend $4.6 billion to add two express toll lanes in each direction on I-270 -- a dubious proposition on environmental, fiscal and geographical equity grounds.
The Montgomery delegation is fragmenting over tthe plan largely because some of its members are skeptical of the notion that building ever-wider highways is the solution to traffic congestion problems. There's also a split between down-county lawmakers, whose constituents would get limited use of the increased road capacity, and up-county legislators whose constituents are stuck in I-270's legendary backups.
The R. Adams Cowley Shock-Trauma Center did its best to discourage new customers Thuesday night in a presentation at the elite Gilman School that the Maryland Highway Safety Foundation wants to bring to the masses.
After a news conference at which the foundation announced its partnership with Shock-Trauma in a bid to expand the educational program to every school system in Maryland, nurses Debbie Yohn and Beverly Dearing gave the Gilman boys a vivid description of what they can expect to go through if they end up being taken to the center as a result of a traffic crash.
Particularly affecting was a video in which a young man named Sean -- brought to Shock-Trauma with irreversible brain damage he suffered in a crash -- lives out his final hours on a ventilator as his grieving father describes in unsparing terms what led to the crash. Sean, it turns out, had been smoking marijuana while driving around with a group of friends and ran a stop sign. He and a young woman passenger -- neither of them wearing seat belts -- were fatally injured.
"He thought he was invincible," the unnamed father said. "It's not natural for a parent to bury a child. Don't put your parents through this."
Continue reading "Shock-Trauma program has powerful impact" »
Pardon me while I vent here. Much of my work is taken up with coverage of traffic safety issue. So when I get out of here for a late lunch, all I want is a little peace.
But the first thing I see when I leave the Sun building is flashing red and blue lights at the corner of Calvert and Centre streets. As I approach the intersection I see a silver SUV overturned on Calvert Street and emergency responders working to extract the driver. (He was alive when loaded into the ambulance, fully strapped down to prevent spinal damage.)
Witnesses said the two-vehicle crash was a case of red-light running by one of the drivers. From the extent of the damage and the fact the SUV rolled, it seemed clear that somebody was going much faster than the speed limit.
Then, as the police worked the scene and I was trying to cross the street with the signal, some joker comes speeding down Centre Street at what must have been 50 mph or more, blows through the red light and nearly knocks me over. Can't a guy just get a little lunch?
Just this morning I had seen another driver run a red light on Baltimore Street.
Forget jousting or lacrosse. It seems clear the real Maryland state sport is Red Light Running.
What kid wouldn't want to go trick-or-treating as a highway worker?
The State Highway Administration is ready to make that possible by lending out the same type of bright yellow-green or orange vests that its highway workers wear to trick-or-treaters. The agency suggests that with the addition of a hard hat, jeans and boots, a child's costume dilemma would be solved. Otherwise the adult-sized vests can fit over any princess or superhero costume to keep children visible to drivers. Adults who are accompanying trick-or-treaters can borrow vests as well.
The reflective vests will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis through SHA maintenance shops from 8 a.m. through 4 p.m. each day through Friday, Vests must be returned by Nov. 6.
For a list of SHA maintenance shops taking part in the Vests for Visibility program, click below. (Photo courtesy of State Highway Administration)
Continue reading "Highway agency offers vests for Halloween safety" »
There was a time when it looked like smooth sailing for a proposal to widen Interstates 395 and 95 in Northern Virginia by building express toll lanes. But the project has recently run into increasing opposition. The Washington Examiner reports that the Alexandria City Council agreed to a resolution denouncing the project.
Is what we're seeing here just NIMBY opposition or is it part of a general backlash against express toll lane projects? We might be finding that answer in Maryland in the not-too-distant future.
A reader named Andrew van de Castle spotted some construction work on the Baltimore beltway and raised some good questions. I'll let him explain:
Can you find out why 695 was heavily patch-repaired back in August and is now undergoing a complete resurfacing? The area in question is between the Route 70 interchange and Frederick Avenue, both the inner and outer loop. Seems like a big waste of money to make all of those extensive repairs, this was across all lanes and on both sides of the same area, to only scrape them up a month or so later? The repair patches seemed to be a fix for a poorly done job the last time resurfacing was done in the same section. They weren't so much for fixing holes as they were for 'smoothing' out bumps that popped up. Also the patches were so poorly made that they sunk in and made dips out of what used to be bumps. "Good enough for government work." seems to be called to mind...
Sun photo
The Maryland Transportation Authority will hold the first of two public hearings on its tolling plan for the Intercounty Connector Wednesday evening from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. in Beltsville.
The hearing at High Point High School, 3601 Powder Mill Road (Route 212), is the closer to Baltimore of the two hearings the authority will conduct on the toll plan for the highway, now under construction (above) in Prince George''s and Montgomery counties. The other will be held during the same hours Thursday night at Shady Grove Middle School, 8100 Midcounty Highway in Gaithersburg.
Under the plan, motorists driving passenger vehicles could be charged as much as 35 cents a mile during peak driving teams and up to 30 cents a mile for off-peak trips. That means a trip the full length of the ICC could cost about $6 each way when the road fully opens in 2011-2012.
Continue reading "State to hold hearings on ICC tolls this week" »
Karen Rosenblatt of Ellicott City spotted something that worried her and sent this note:
For the past several months, work has been ongoing on the bridge on southbound Rt. 29 over I-70 in Ellicott City. It was taken down to the supports and completely redone. While the work was being done, I noticed that water was “puddling” on the shoulder lane. The “puddle” is about 30’ long by 8-10’ wide. I thought maybe a drain was clogged and this would be fixed when work was complete. It appears that the work is complete and the puddle is still there. It rained last weekend and this area has still not dried. I think this will be a huge hazard when it’s rainy and temperatures dip below freezing. Is there any way the State Highways Department could have this fixed before the job is marked complete?
I sent Mrs. Rosenblatt's inquiry to Dave Buck, spokesman for the State Highway Administration, who sent this prompt reply:
I spoke with our Construction and Bridge engineers. SHA is aware of the issue Ms. Rosenblatt describes in her email. Our engineers have been on site over the past few weeks and are in the process of determining the needed modification. We expect to have some answers very quickly, which I will pass along.
SHA shares in the reader's concern about making the needed repairs prior to any freezing conditions and thanks Ms. Rosenblatt for her astute observations.
My experience suggests that Maryland has a very good highway administration. But with the help of vigilant citizens, they can do just a little bit better.
It was just a few weeks ago when Maryland drivers could entertain thoughts that falling gasoline prices might continue to plunge toward the $2 mark. No more. The statewide average price of a gallon of regular now stands at $2.62, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic, after rising by 13 cents from the past week's average.
Pasadena and the Arundel Mills area are potential places of refuge, as sprices there are running almost 20 cents behind the statewide average, according to MarylandGasPrices. com. Meanwhile, one Shell station in North Potomac has cracked the $3 barrier at $3.04, the web site reports.
Roland Park will be the site Sunday of the first field test of a concept known as "Sunday Streets," in which a main drag is given over to pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders and other non-motorized traffic for a few hours on the weekend.
The Roland Park Civic League is working with other sponsors, including One Less Car and the Inn at the Colonnade, to test a concept that has its origins in Colombia.
Continue reading "'Sunday Streets' concept to get road test" »
When a reporter covering transportation issues gets around mostly by car, it's easy to slip into what David Alpert of the Greater Greater Washington blog calls a "windshield perspective" -- a tendency to view the world as if everyone was a driver.
Alpert, who does a great job covering metropolitan Washington (and sometimes Baltimore too), tore into two Washington Post reporters for their coverage of parking trends in that area. In this case, I think he has them dead to rights. I, too, had spotted the $100-a-day hypothetical they posed for a day's parking in Friendship Heights and thought that was fanciful at best.
Reminder to all transpo writers, including myself: Not everyone drives.
The good times have ceased rolling on the gasoline price front. According to AAA Mid-Atlantic, the average price of regular in the Baltimore area rose 11 cents -- from $2.35 to $2.46 -- in the past week. Crude oil prices have been rising -- so more increases could be on the way.
The good news is that Baltimore's gas price lags the national average of $2.56 by a dime. And it looks a lot better than the price in California, where folks are paying more than $3 a gallon.
The speed limit on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and its approaches, which had been reduced to 50 mph while the new span was being built, has been returned to the 55-mph level that prevails on most of the Capital Beltway.
The speed limit had been lowered on an 8-mile section of the Beltway in 2005 as the pace of construction picked up on the bridge and on projected interchanges on both sides of the Potomac River. Officials of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project said the majority of work has been completed, making it safe to resume the previous speed.
Work is expected to continue on the Telegraph Road interchange in Virginia until 2012, but official decided that part of the project would not have as severe an impact on Beltway traffic as previous phases.
Still in effect is an experimental Variable Speed Limit program on the Virginia side of the river in which the maximums change with travel conditions using sensors and computerized formulas.
A reader named John Dusch sent along an article from the Gazette in Prince George's County on speed cameras, thinking I'd be interested. I was.
It seems the Prince George's County Council has approved plans for speed cameras and has designated the county Revenue Authority to determine the 50 school sites where they will be deployed.
The Revenue Authority? What are these people thinking?
Regular readers of this blog are well aware that I have no objections to speed cameras and wouldn't mind if they were used on every road in the state. But to maintain the integrity and the core purpose of the program -- safety -- decisions on where to post such cameras should be kept strictly separate from revenue considerations.
Camera location is a matter for the police department, the transportation department, even the health department, but not the revenue arm of local government. Prince George's County's decision reflects badly not just on its own program but others around the state.
The Council should rethink this extremely harmful decision.
With anniversary observances of two wars expected to bring an influx of tourists, Maryland has received a $5.6 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration to improve and market its scenic roads.
The infusion of money for the Maryland's Byways program will help the state prepare for the sesquicentennial of the Civil War starting in 2011 and the 200th anniversay of the War of 1812. Important engagements of both wars were fought on Maryland soil, including the defense of Baltimore in 1814 and the Antietam campaign of 1862.
In addition, Maryland will soon be observing a celebration of the life of Abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman, an Eastern Shore native.
The grant application was a joint effort of the Maryland Office of Tourism and the State Highway Administration. It will go to help fund the Catoctin Mountain Scenic Byway in Frederick County, the Star-Spangled Banner Byway in Baltimore and Baltimore, Prince George's and Calvert counties, and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway in Dorchester and Caroline counties.
According to the state Department of Economic Development, the grant to Maryland was the largest awarded by the federal agency in the current competitive process.
Last night it was my pleasure to tape a show with Charles Duffy of Montgomery Municipal Cable's "Political Pulse" down in Kensington. The GPS lady said to take the Capital Beltway. Experience said otherwise, and I took a combination of non-interstate routes through Burtonsville and Wheaton. It worked out fine -- even though I was traveling at rush hour.
One of the main topics was the proposal to spend $4.6 billion on a sprawl-enabling, polluting, futile and wasteful widening of Interstate 270. Duffy was kind enough to give the the opportunity to explain why this is not such a grand idea from a Baltimore point of view.
But while I was off pontificating, other forces were at work advancing the bank-breaking project, Maryland Politics Watch reports. It seems that business and labor have formed an unholy alliance in support of what would be the most expensive transportation project in Maryland history.
There is no sign that the O'Malley administration is showing much interest in the road-widening project, though it is supportive of a transit lline in the I-270 corridor. But there are enough drums beating for the project in Montgomery to warrant vigilance on the part of political leaders from Baltimore and elsewhere in the state.
How strange that a death toll of 16,626 people comes as good news. That's because that total represents a record low for half a year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The federal agency said that estimated total for the January-June period represents a 7 percent drop from the 17,871 killed on U.S. roads during the first half of 2008.
NHTSA is also projecting a .record low fatality rate of 1.15 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, compared 1.23 deaths during the same period last year.
It's progress, but those numbers are still horrific -- more than the equivalent of five 9/11s between Jan. 1 and June 30. And it's cold comfort to those who have lost family members, friends and colleagues.
There was a disturbing sight on the way in to Baltimore on Interstate 95 this morning. Just sourth of the city, where I-95 meets the Beltway, there was an SUV on the southbound shoulder, fully engulfed in flames. No emergency crews were on the scene but a fire truck was on its way.
I wonder how that all played out. Email if you know.
During a wide-ranging interview this morning with Maryland Transportation Secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley, I had the opportunity to ask her whether a $4.6 billion proposal to widen Interstate 270 between Shady Grove and Frederick was in line with the O'Malley administration's priorities.
Swaim-Staley diidn't really answer the question directly, but the way she replied gave me the impression she has little enthusiasm for the idea -- which is being promoted by the Montgomery County Planning Board and local business interests as the cure for congestion in the corridor.
I'm not faulting her for dodging. The corridor is now undergoing a traffic study, and high-ranking department officials generally try to avoid comments that might prejudice the process. But she brought a certain vehemence to her insistence that transit comes first in the corridor that I found reassuring.
"We really are focused on the transit aspects in that corridor," she said -- referring to the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway project that would serve many of the employment centers along the interstate. Any consideration of a wider interstate, she emphasized, is far in the future.
Continue reading "Transportation chief seems cool toward I-270 notion" »
The city of Baltimore isn't keeping the 51 proposed locations of its first flight of speed cameras under wraps. You can find a full list of intersections that are expected to be equipped with the cameras at this city web site. The list will become final Nov. 2, the day the city stops issuing warnings and begins sending out actual $40 tickets.
It looks as if the Dixon administration has done a good job of distributing them to all parts of the city except for purely industrial areas where there are no schools.
Northern Parkway appears to have grabbed the honors for the street with the most camera locations -- five. Anyone who drives that road can attest the distinction is well-deserved.
The first 51 locations for speed cameras wiil be at intersections where the city operates red light cameras. Some red light camera locations are not within a half-mile of a school, as required by the state law authorizing speed cameras.
Slow down and you'll never have to worry about the speed cameras, which cut drivers 12 mph worth of slack before issuing a ticket.
AP photo
The State Highway Administration will close one of the two bridges leading into Ocean City for two months so work crews can replace a damaged girder that has already prompted the agency to prohibit truck traffic on the span.
Highway officials said the full closure of the Route 90 bridge will begin next week or early the following week. Traffic will be diverted to the U.S. 50 bridge, which leads to the resort’s downtown.
The Route 90 bridge was closed to all vehicles weighing more than 6,000 pounds last week after inspectors found that the concrete lining of an 85-foot girder had eroded, exposing the underlying steel to potential corrosion.
The decision to close the bridge was not unexpected. SHA Administrator Neil J. Pedersen said last week that the repairs could be performed more quickly if all lanes were closed.
The 38-year-old, 1.4-mile bridge carries traffic over Assawoman Bay to north Ocean City at 60th Street.
Work crews will remove an 85-foot section of the bridge, replace the steel beams, pour a new deck surface and paint new stripes, the agency said. The highway administration hopes to reopen the bridge by mid-December.
The agency said it is now drawing up engineering specifications and hopes to soon hire a contractor. It said an exact date for the closing will be announced after the contractor is chosen. Highway 90 will remain open to local traffic, including vehicles heading for Ocean Pines and U.S. 113, as far as St. Martin’s Neck Road. The weight restrictions will remain in effect until the bridge closes.
So do we really need a racial test for the placement of speed cameras and parking meters? The city NAACP seems to think so.
Baltimore NAACP President Marvin "Doc" Cheatham has called on Mayor Sheila Dixon and City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to convene an independent panel to vet such decisions for any signs of racial bias. The basis for this demand: "concern that discrimination is taking place."
Cheatham offers little evidence of any bias -- except perhaps his own.
On speed cameras, Cheatham raises the tired canard that speed cameras are "Just another way for the city to acquire revenue." Asked and answered in multiple public hearings: No. And what does that question have to do with bias?
Then comes the assertion that "there seems to be discriminatory factors as to where the speed cameras will be located." Again, no evidence.
On parking meters, Cheatham cherry-picks a few instances to suggest the city likes Italians and Jews more than it does African-Americans.
The NAACP cited that there is three hours free parking in Little Italy, but meters/2 hours zones/pay to park zones elsewhere in the city. It is questioned why this part of the city gets such privilege. Additionally, there are parking meters on 26th street where the NAACP Baltimore City Branch is located, which has both residential and businesses, but there are no meters where the Jewish Museum of Maryland is located on Lloyd Street which also has both residential and business."
Privilege? Does the NAACP think three hours of free parking is a gift to Little Italy residents? They must love competing with vistors for spaces. And what's this business of trying to draw a parallel between his own office and a major Jewish cultural institution over parking meters? Do we really need to go there?
My take: You have a government of Baltimore with an African-American mayor and majority black Council. You ought to let them run the city government with the same administrative discretion exercised by all the white-majority adminstrations and councils before them. Anything else would be discrimination.
AAA Mid-Atlantic has announced that it is joining the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety to observe Drive Safely to Work Week today through Friday. The week is a national campaign to emphasize the importance of safe practices to reduce preventable deaths.
Sadly, the week began with a tragedy that hit far too close to home. Tim Wheatley, The Sun's business editor and a valued colleague, died this morning when his car was struck by a truck in Monkton as he was driving his daughter to school. She was critically injured. The crash is under investigation.
The various traffic safety weeks that crop up through the year are easy to dismiss as a gimmick, and I almost always do. But today's events are a reminder that driving demands constant vigilance. As an AAA spokeswoman wrote, "the time you spend behind the wheel can be the most dangerous part of your day."
Never forget it.
The price of gasoline continues to fall in Maryland -- with the statewide average dropping from $2.45 to $2.39 in the space of a week. But if you really want to enjoy the low-price action, head over to Ritchie Highway (Route 2) in Anne Arundel County, where it appears a full-fledged gas price war has broken out.
MarylandGasPrices.com is listing prices as low as $2.18 a gallon along the highway corridor, with several other stations in the Glen Burnie-Pasadena area offering fuel in the low $2.20s. The Laurel area is also a prime area for cheap gas.
But what gives in Montgomery County? A lot of the stations in the Bethesda-Potomac-Rockville area are still above $2.60, according to the web site, with one as high as $2.89. It's long been known that the zone pricing in this state produces some strange variations, but the current price spreads are hard to explain.
Maybe Attorney General Doug Gansler could get some answers.
Don't you just love a good chart? One that really tells a story?
This one comes from the Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight's recent report on the county's speed camera program, using data collected by the county police. It shows the number of tickets issued per vehicle -- and it's oddly fascinating.
So two-thirds of the vehicles that were ticketed were caught only once. One might infer that their drivers got the message and slowed down -- at least in the camera zones. Another 19 percent needed another $40 reminder. Together the one-time and two-time losers account for 86 percent of those ticketed.
So who are these other folks? Who is driving the seven vehicles that accumulated 30 or more tickets within a two-year period? What is going through the heads of the drivers of the 1,667 "frequent flyers" who accumulated more than 10 tickets over 24 months?
Here's a theory: There is a small but very dangerous cadre of drivers who have a total contempt for speed laws combined with an arrogant belief in their invulnerabity and a narcissistic focus on their own convenience at the expense of others' safety. These are people who are highly likely to eventually cause a serious crash but who fiercely resent any government efforts to curb their behavior.
The current speed camera law treats the 30th offense with no more severity than the first offense. Wouldn't it make sense to have an escalating scale of penalties? For instance a fine of $400 for the 10th ticket in a two-year window.
To anticipate an argument, I'm fully aware that the camera program targets vehicles rather than drivers. And certainly people occasionally lend out those vehicles to friends and family. But most drivers do most of the driving in their own cars. And if they are repeatedly lending out their vehicles to dangerous drivers, why should they not be held accountable?
As law enforcement officials in Maryland move forward with the deployment of speed cameras under a new law that takes effect today, there comes new evidence from Montgomery County that the initiative will prove effective.
In a report this week to the Montgomery County Council on that jurisdiction's pioneering automated speed enforcement program, the Office of Legislative Oversight found that speeding had been cut in half and collisions had fallen 28 percent over one year in school zones and on residential streets where camera have been deployed.
The report found that vehicle speeds in speed camera zones declined by 6 percent after a year in operation. The percentage of vehicles traveling over the speed limit fell from 25 percent to 13 percent.
Continue reading "Montgomery report shows speed cameras work" »
Sun photo/Barbara Haddock Taylor
The most common complaint about speed cameras -- besides the tired nonsense about Big Brother -- is that they're just a "money grab" by the government that will have no effect on safety.
Several high-ranking transportation and law enforcement officials in state government addressed that issue Wednesday at a news conference called to outline Maryland's plans to deploy the cameras in highway work zones.
Transportation Secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley (at podium), State Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen (the tall man on the right) and Maryland Transportation Authority Police Chief Marcus Brown (right center background) all vigorously argued that the camera program is all about safety.
Continue reading "Officials say cameras are all about safety" »
During a recent weekend in Florida, one thing that was particularly striking for a Maryland visitor was the almost total absence of helmets on the heads of motorcyclists in that state.
In Maryyland, you see, motorcycle helmets are the law. In Florida they were once the law, but the statute was repealed. So now, virtually every motocyclist you see in that state is riding bare-headed. I would estimate that fewer than 20 percent of the bikers I saw wore protective headgear. There was absolutely no sign that Florida motorcyclists were compensating for their unprotected skulls by driving any safer than Maryland bikers.
My guess is that in the absence of a law, fashion takes over. Nobody wants to be the dweeb wearing a brain bucket.
I'm aware of all the arguments about freedom of choice and yaddah-yah, but as the driver of a passenger vehicle I want the lives of the people I share the road with to be protected from the possibility that I will make a mistake -- or fail to respond to the mistake of another quickly enough. Call its selfish on my part, but I don't want to be carrying around the burden of killing someone. I'm happy to do my part to look out for motorcyclists but I also appreciate motorcyclists loooking out for themselves. On this issue at least, Maryland's got it right.
If you ever travel over the Bay Bridge on U.S. 50 and take a left onto Route 404 to reach the Delaware beaches or the north end of Ocean City, you're probably familiar with the backups that plague the two-lane stretches of that road.
So it may come as some relief that Maryland has begun the process of widening 404 with the launch today of a project to widen a mile-long segment of 404 between Tuckahoe Creek (the stream that separates Queen Anne's County from Caroline) to Hillsboro. The $15 million job -- funded thhrough the federal stimulus program -- is the first segment of a planned widening of an 11-mile segment of 404 between U.S. 50 and the Denton Bypass.
That's all the good news for now, because two-lane segments east of Denton are on the back burner because of Delaware's reluctance to widen its part of the road. There's hope, though, that by the time the 11 miles are completed in late 2012, we be able to get to the traffic jams a little faster.
The price of progress is construction delay, and motorists traveling 404 can expect to encounter lane closings Mondays from noon to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon. Crews wiill not be working on Saturdays or Sundays.
Where are you most likely to run into a backup caused by a truck crash in Maryland?
Here's some answers from the State Highway Administration, taken from its recently released Maryland Statewide Freight Plan. The figures also include crashes of other commercial vehicles such as buses.
The section of the Capital Beltway in Prince Georges' County is the champ, though the segments of Interstate 95 between the Baltimore and Capital beltways in Howard and Baltimore counties rank way up there.
Reports of a recent fatal crash on Route 32 in Howard County reminded Matilda Falck of Pikesville of something she learned in her 55 Alive defensive driving course at her senior center.
"When attempting a left turn, never turn your front wheels (until you are ready to make the turn). Always keep them straight, so that if you are rear-ended, your car will not go into the oncoming traffic."
There's no way to be sure that advice would have made a difference in the outcome of this month's Howard County crash, which did involve the rear-ending of a motorist attempting to make a left turn, but it's a good practice anyway.
Falck said that even though she has been driving a long time, that tip was news to her. Nor was it covered in my late-1960s driver's ed class.
Maybe we could all use a refresher course.
The blog Greater Greater Washington does us all a service by passing along a public service ad campaign from Norway reminding drivers to keep an eye out for motorcyclists. The spot, entitled "We are Small but We're Not Bugs," reflects a rather grim Norse sense of humor that may not be to everyone's taste. But this blogger is part Norwegian and thinks it's spot-on.
When Adam Pagnucco of Maryland Politics Watch steps out of his Montgomery-centric shell, he does some superb reporting on Maryland transportation issues. I highly recommend his deconstruction Monday of the state of the state's transportation program.
It looks like time for a grownup discussion of revenue needs and spending priorities. The chances of that occurring before the next election are dim.
The advocacy group Environment Maryland reports that Maryland ranked No. 3 among the states in 2008 for its gains in transit ridership over the previous year. The group estimated that state residents saved 60.7 million gallons of gasoline as a result of the more than 15 percent gain in the use of transit.
The gain obviously reflects the huge jump in gasoline prices between 2007 and 2008, but it still reflects well on regional transit agencies that they ranked so high nationally. Only Louisiana and North Carolina reported greater gains as both posted 16 percent increases.
The group's full press release follows:
The State Highway Administration will conduct periodic closings of northbound and southbound Interstate 95 in the Beltsville area during the early morning hours starting Monday, Oct. 5 for construction if interchanges linking I-95 to the Intercounty Connector.
The closings, which are scheduled to last no more than 15 minutes at a time between Routes 198 and 212, will continue through spring, the highway agency said. The northbound closures will occur between midnight and 4:30 a.m. while the southbound closings will be confined to the midnight-3:30 a.m. period.
The SHA said there could be up to four such closings a night. According to the highway agency, the closings are necessary to let work crews saely install the structural steel for three new ICC bridges over I-95. Meanwhile workers will also raze the Old Gunpowder Road bridge over the interstate.
Highway officials are urging overnight travelers to use U.S. 1 and Maryland 295 (the Baltimore-Washington parkway) as alternative routes.
The SHA's full release follows:
Continue reading "I-95 overnight closings set for ICC project" »
So at long last the Maryland Transportation Authority has put some numbers behind its plan for tolling on the Intercounty Connector, the first phase of which will open next year. The agency estimates that at peak times, the tolls will range from 25 cents to 35 cents a mile. It scheduled public hearings to get comments on the plan.
What's the significance of this? Nada. Zilch. Zip. Less than nothing.
Under the congestion pricing plan the state adopted for the ICC, neither the authority's estimates nor the public's opinion carries much weight. The market rules with an iron fist. To keep the lanes free-flowing, the tolls have to be high enough to deter a significant number of motorists from using the road. If traffic clogs up at 35 cents a mile, the toll has to rise to 40 cents a mile. Or 50. Or 60. You get it.
The other key to understanding the ICC tolls is that they have nowhere to go but up. The capacity for congestion-free operations is finite. Demand for jam-free roads in the Washington suburbs is seemingly limitless. It's Economics 101.
So people can turn out and holler all they want about the proposed rate ranges -- which are really no more than estimates. The market will overrule both the authority and the public. The hearings are mostly dog-and-pony shows staged for the federal government.
The Maryland Transportation Authority has unveiled a tolling plan for the Intercounty Connector under which passenger vehicles would pay as much as 35 cents a mile for travel on the highway when the first phase of it opens next year.
The authority also announced a series of public hearings next month to gather coments on the plan.
Since the ICC's revival under the Ehrlich administration, the state has planned to set tolls for the highway at levels that would keep the highway running free of congestion by pricing a certain amount of the east-west traffic onto free local roads. But until now, the Maryland Department of Transportation has balked at providing estimates of what that cost will be.
In its announcement Wednesday, the authority estimated that the cost per mile for two-axle passenger vehicles at peak hours -- 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. -- would likely vary from 25 to 35 cents a mile. It put the cost per mile at off-peak periods at 20 to 30 cents a mile. The agency said the peak periods could be adjusted by as much as an hour earlier or later once the road opens and traffic patterns are established.
The 18.8-mile toll road will link Interstate 270 in Montgomery County with the Interstate 95-U.S. 1 corridor in Prince George's County when it fully opens by 2012. The first phase, a 5.65-mile segment between Georgia Avenue and Shady Grove (Interstate 370), is expected to open next fall.
Russell Hurd, whose testimony about the death of his daughter helped win General Assembly passage of the ban on driving while texting that goes into effect Oct. 1, asked me to pass along that his family and Harford Community College will host a 5-kilometer walk and run Nov. 21 in honor of Heather Hurd.
I'm happy to do so.
Heather Hurd was killed Jan. 3, 2008, in Davenport, Fla., when the car in which she was riding was hit by a tractor-trailer driver who had been texting. His daughter's loss prompted Russell Hurd, who lives in Abingdon, to become involved in efforts to pass legislation addressing issues of distracted driving in Maryland and other states. (Russell and his wife Kim are shown in the photo above during General Assembly testimony earlier this year.)
Enrollment fees for the 8 a.m. event -- $20 for the general public and $15 for HCC students and staff -- will go toward Remembrance Scholarships to honor those killed on Maryland roads.
Can traffic noise near your home kill you? And are the folks at the State Highway Administration who put up those noise barriers that line our highways health care workers? A recent article from the Los Angeles Times suggests it can and they are.
The article points to a Swedish study written up in the journal Environmental Health showing that road noise levels of 60 decibels or more near one's home are associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure among young and middle-aged adults.
I've sometimes wondered whether those noise barriers were a good use of highway money. Now you can make a good case for them as a preventive health measure. Go figure.
Gas prices have been a non-story since the July 4 weekend as the statewide average has remained amazingly stable -- bouncing aroound between $2.50 and $2.60 for the most part, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.
But when I was out and about on Route 2 in Pasadena Thursday, I saw a number of stations offering gas for around $2.35. A check of MarylandGasPrices.com on Friday shows quite a few stations in Laurel, Pasadena, Catonsville and Bel Air with prices under $2.40.
It was an interesting commute this morning -- with one near-miss when a fellow driver decided he'd waited long enough to wait to make a left turn onto U.S. 1 and wouldn't be deterred by an oncoming Hyundai. Fortunately nobody was tailgating when emergency braking became necessary.
I couldn't help noticing that while most drivers take a little off their speed in deference to a driving rain and slick roads, there are others who appear entirely oblivious to the weather. They zoom along at the speeds you would expect on a dry, sunny day. Ice and snow get at least some respect in Maryland, but mere rain seems to be greeted with contempt.
It seems every time there's a heavy rain, you see road closings and delays cause by drivers running into each other. One colleague of mine reported seeing three separate accidents on her way into work this morning.
