The head of the Maryland State Highway Administration says her agency's recent about-face in granting the proposed Bel Air South Walmart access to Route 924 makes sense from a traffic management standpoint, but county officials still plan to require a new traffic study for the project to move forward.
Walmart's traffic consultant, meanwhile, has requested a meeting with Harford County planners that has been set up for Friday, the county's spokesperson said.
In a Feb. 12 letter to State Sen. Bob Cassilly and Del. Susan McComas, SHA Administrator Melinda Peters defended the Route 924 access decision as helpful for future traffic flow and also provided a timeline of her agency's decision-making process. McComas said she only received the letter this week.
Peters also wrote the agency won't change its position on access to the 35-acre store site at the intersection of Route 924 and Plumtree Road.
The Walmart project has been on hold for more than a year, as county planners waited for the company to complete required traffic studies and to agree to road upgrades as required under the county Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance.
The SHA had previously told county officials it would not grant access from Route 924 in response to a 2012 County Council resolution requesting such a denial. Local legislators, county officials and residents opposed to the Walmart project were taken by surprise, however, when one of SHA's staff notified county Planning Director Bradley Killian in mid-January that the agency had reversed its prior stance and would permit partial access from the state highway.
In her letter, Peters wrote that SHA reviewed in early January "whether any type of access might be allowable" and "believes that the addition of right in/right out only access on MD 924 provides the benefit of a redundancy in the roadway network," a concept that was then discussed within the Maryland Department of Transportation.
The access would reduce the amount of traffic entering the store from Plumtree Road and exiting onto Bel Air South Parkway, Peters wrote.
"Without the right-in movement, all southbound traffic has to turn right on Plumtree Road and then turn left at the traffic signal at Blue Spruce Drive. The left turn queues could at different times approach the MD 924 intersection," she wrote, adding that the right-out movement also keeps traffic from being forced left from Blue Spruce and affecting the Route 924 traffic signal.
Walmart's traffic consultant, The Traffic Group Inc., requested Friday's meeting with county planning officials, county spokesperson Cindy Mumby said Thursday.
"We will see what they say," she added, noting that Walmart has not submitted any new plans and would still be required to do another traffic study if they request the right-in, right-out access they were allowed by SHA.
"Our position is unchanged since the council resolution requesting SHA deny access," Mumby said. "We have a code and we have a process. We are requiring Walmart to follow the process."
Despite the SHA decision coinciding with start of Gov. Larry Hogan's term, McComas, who represents the area where the Walmart is planned, said new the administration was not behind it.
"This decision was made way before Hogan took the oath. They just waited to use the new stationery, more than anything," McComas said Thursday, noting Hogan got 74 percent of the votes cast in Harford County in November's election and would be foolish to encourage Walmart against the wishes of his constituents.
McComas said the partial access may be beneficial, but she is concerned about the timeline the SHA presented and wants to review the effect of the traffic changes, including seeing some traffic models.
"I want to talk to [Peters] and then I would like to go and also speak to the county and kind of see what their thoughts are," McComas said. "Conceptually, it makes sense to have some redundancy."
"Needless to say, as always, the devil is in the details, but I think one thing we have to remember is the county is the decision-maker," she said, adding Walmart still has plenty of requirements to meet, including addressing issues of reforestation, lighting and related issues.
McComas said Walmart is ultimately allowed to build a store under the county zoning code. She just wants to make sure it is "done right."
"We are stuck with the facts here," she said. "The question is, we have got to make it so it does the least impact to the community."
McComas suggested the partial 924 access could help the area's existing traffic, especially if Walmart funds much-needed road improvements around the site.
The county had previously told the company it would need to extend Blue Spruce Drive, which dead ends at the Walmart site, from Bel Air South Parkway through to Plumtree Road, widen Plumtree and make other upgrades, including traffic signals at both ends of Blue Spruce.
"If the development happens without the access and we have cars all stacked up and we have gridlock, that is not going to work, either," McComas said.
McComas added she is looking into a corridor study that would examine traffic throughout the area along Routes 924 and 24, which run parallel, not just at the Walmart site.
Howard Klein, whose family owns the Klein's ShopRite supermarket at the nearby Festival at Bel Air shopping center, said through a spokesperson Thursday his company is also analyzing the traffic situation, as it relates to the Walmart.
"Klein's is studying the entire traffic overlay of the Route 24/924 area in and around the parcel under discussion, to make sure that whatever is approved does not overly burden existing arteries and the current infrastructure," spokesperson Mike Blum said via email.