Beginning early this fall, the intersection of Frederick and Thistle roads, near the area known to some as "devil's corner," will be under construction, finally completing a development deal of more than six years ago to make the stretch of road safer.
By the end of the fall, the intersection will include newly painted lines more visible to drivers and raised concrete barriers to direct drivers along, said Jeff Kirby, head of the J. Kirby Development project.
Turning left from Thistle onto Frederick will also be restricted.
"We will be adding some traffic control devices," Kirby said. "It's a lot of striping and some actual construction."
The improvements are part of Kirby Development's Patapsco Overlook senior community.
In 2009, the project was the center of a debate as some residents complained that the development would interrupt what had been a sparsely populated section of Catonsville leading into the Patapsco Valley State Park.
The Baltimore County Planning Board approved the building of Patapsco Overlook, on the condition that the developer would address concerns about the safety of the intersection. When the development off Thistle Road is completed this year, it will include 80 condominiums.
Many residents have already been living in the development for years. and most residents have cars and drive regularly.
That was part of the concerns regarding the safety of the intersection with Frederick Road, especially since the road crests at a curve a short distance away.
Although the initial plan to adjust the intersection was approved by the State Highway Administration some three years ago, Kirby said, his company wanted to wait until the units were completed before they began working on the intersection out of concern for the construction vehicles that would have to pass through regularly.
The SHA is also currently working on an $800,000 milling and resurfacing project that began last week, according to David Buck, media relations manager for the administration. That project extends along Frederick Road from North Rolling Road to River Road.
Paving is expected to begin next week, depending on the weather, according to Buck.
Dimitri Coroneos, longtime owner of Dimitri's International Grille, which sits in the wedge between Frederick and Thistle and directs customers to enter off of Frederick, said the intersection and the nearby curve in Frederick Road have long been concerns of his.
"I've seen so many accidents," he said.
Some of the accidents he said he has seen over the course of his 50 years of business at the intersection have included pile-ups caused by oncoming drivers not being able to see traffic slowed or stopped ahead.
"I never really leave my car in the front because I've seen so many things happen," he said.
He said he petitioned the county to install a blinking yellow traffic light at the site, but was turned down.
For now, there is a blinking yellow sign warning drivers heading westbound, toward Ellicott City, along Frederick Road about the curve. A
Addressing the intersection, he said, is a step in the right direction, though he still worries about visibility for drivers on both roads.
"I'm glad that they're going to do something," Coroneos said.
Dimitri's International Grille manager Litsa Wethern, daughter of Coroneos, said she was talking about the impending road work only days ago with a customer who had asked when it would begin.
She didn't know details, she said, but she felt something would be happening soon.
Three years ago, she remembers the plan to improve the intersection being finalized along with the approval for the condos. But she hadn't heard much since.
"We use it every day," she said, noting that she can't remember ever having seen an accident there.
Construction should be over within a couple weeks after it begins, Kirby said, and will involved very limited road closures.