A plan to widen or replace a one-lane bridge on Hess Road in a rural corner of western Harford County drew a mostly hostile reaction from the 60 people who attended a hearing on the project Tuesday evening.
The hearing at a Fallston community center was set up by Harford County's Public Works department to give residents and people who use the bridge over the Little Gunpowder Falls an opportunity to learn more about the project and to voice their concerns.
Several people who spoke said the Monkton community wants nothing to do with a new bridge.
Ralph Rigger, of the 3300 block of Hess Road, said he had a petition with 180 signatures from residents saying they want the road and bridge to be rehabilitated and the bridge left as a one-lane span.
Rigger said the majority of the traffic is only in one direction and just one in 100 cars "has to wait" for the others to cross.
He said he sat and watched the traffic patterns for several hours one day and came to this conclusion. He added that he also got a higher traffic count, by a few hundred cars, than what the county public works people say they counted.
"I don't see that as a need for a two-lane bridge," Rigger said.
"We're completely unclear as to how to stop the process … to widen the bridge," Ellen Reeder, of the 3800 block of Hess Road, said.
Reeder said there is already excessive speeding on the road and believes adding another lane will only exacerbate the problem, adding that she picks up "handfuls of rearview mirrors in the spring" from cars in accidents during the winter.
"We need more traffic calming devices," she added.
Options studied
On the border of Harford and Baltimore counties between Jarrettsville Pike (Route 146) in Harford and Old York Road in Baltimore County, the bridge sees some daily commuter traffic, mostly Harford residents headed to and from employment centers in Hunt Valley and Sparks.
Harford County Councilman Chad Shrodes, who represents the area, spoke briefly before leaving Tuesday's hearing to attend another meeting.
"I encourage DPW to work with you all and work with me to [come up with a plan]," Shrodes said.
"When approving rural roads … we can do things differently," Shrodes said, referring to the community's opportunity to say what kind of design aspects they would want of the road and bridge. "This bridge should be making the area better, not worse."
Jeff Stratmeyer, the county DPW's chief engineer, gave a presentation detailing aspects of the project, including the division of funding and the bridge's current condition.
"We wanted to get input ahead of time before we even go to the [contractors]," Stratmeyer said.
Project manager Naveed Shah explained the bridge is deteriorated and needs repairs.
Shah showed photographs of the bridge with corrosion on the stringers, which support the deck, and corrosion on the floor beams, which support the stringers.
Shah said the superstructure would need to be replaced, if not the entire bridge, within two or three years
Photos of the stone abutments showed cracks and "other stuff" within missing pieces in the stone, Shah noted.
Stratmeyer explained that the Federal Highway Administration reviews the bridge on Hess Road and others biennially, inspecting the deck, superstructure, joints and other aspects of the bridge.
If any component rates as a four or less (out of 100), the bridge is deemed structurally deficient. However, that doesn't mean the bridge is not safe to drive on, just that it needs repairs and/or to be downgraded as to the vehicle weight permitted.
A bridge is functionally obsolete if it's not up to federal standards, Stratmeyer said. If it rates under 50, the Federal Highway Administration will provide funds toward repair or replacement.
According to the 2009 analysis report, the Hess Road bridge found to be structurally deficient, with the deck rating five, the superstructure rating four and the abutments rating six. The overall bridge sufficiency rating was 26.
The 2011 analysis "will come back soon," Shah said, though he did not specify the time frame.
Speed limits, traffic counts
The bridge is classified as a minor rural collector, Stratmeyer said, referring to the amount of traffic handled by the bridge and Hess Road.
The current posted speed limit is 30 mph. However, the speed is not posted on the Harford side of the bridge. Stratmeyer said this should be fixed soon.
He also said he wouldn't expect much change in the speed limit, perhaps bumping up to 35 mph if the bridge becomes two lanes.
The average daily traffic count is between 2,600 and 3,000 vehicles, though Stratmeyer said the county hadn't spoken to farmers to ask if their tractors and other large equipment can safely cross the bridge in its current state.
"[It's] something we need to talk about," he said.
There's also significant bicycle traffic along the East Coast Greenway, a 2,500-mile path linking cities from Maine to Florida, which goes down Hess Road, he added.
If the final decision is to completely replace the bridge, the department of public works will rely on a subcommittee of eight or nine people who live in the immediate area to come up with an "appropriate and aesthetically pleasing structure," Stratmeyer said.
He said there was a similar subcommittee for the Watervale Road bridge in Fallston that chose what kind of trusses, railings and other components that bridge will receive once it is replaced.
Stratmeyer also showed a Photoshop rendering of what the Hess Road bridge would look like with a stone railing, instead of its current metal one, as well as examples of different bridge styles
Cost concerns
The biggest concern Stratmeyer said he had received through e-mails and phone calls is the amount of money it would cost to replace the bridge versus only repairing it.
He previously told The Aegis a full replacement bridge would cost between $1.5 million and $2 million.
Stratmeyer said if just repairs are needed, the project will be 100 percent locally funded, split equally between Baltimore and Harford counties. If the bridge is replaced, the funding will be 80 percent federal and 20 percent local, with the latter again being split between the two counties.
Reeder said she was "disappointed" in the different bridge styles shown in the presentation, adding, "We like 'stuff,'" referring to Shah's description of remnants in the stone abutments.
Later on, Reeder again asked Stratmeyer what could be done to stop the process.
"We need to replace the superstructure," the engineer replied. He said he would answer her other questions either after the meeting or through e-mail.
"It's worth my life to get the mail," Bill Minor, of the 3500 block of Hess Road, said, explaining that drivers will go 50 or 60 mph down the road at times. "I just want to keep it rural."
Minor, who is a farmer, said that his tractors can fit over the one-lane bridge fine, referring to Stratmeyer's earlier statement about wanting to know about farming vehicles.
He later said he appreciated DPW showing options for a replacement bridge, "even though we don't want them."