After more than 20 years of planning, Carroll County is proposing to build seven roads in South Carroll that would divert traffic from congested Routes 26 and 32.
"There are a lot of unfinished connectors that could benefit the overall traffic circulation," Steven Horn, director of planning, said in a meeting with the county commissioners yesterday.
Horn presented a list of priorities that asked for immediate funding for extensions of MacBeth Way, Dickenson Lane, Obrecht Road and Piney Ridge Parkway. All four would parallel Route 26, with all but Dickenson on the south side of the highway.
The cost is estimated at $1.6 million in the fiscal 2000 budget, much of it for engineering and land acquisition.
Extensions are also planned within the next few years for Georgetown Boulevard and Monroe Avenue, and, possibly, Caren Drive, although that project faces stiff local opposition.
Nineteen connectors have been on the county master plan for its most congested area for more than 20 years. None has been completed, and the more than 28,000 people who live in the area are demanding relief.
The MacBeth Way project could be the least costly. Construction of a remaining segment from Route 32 to Brangles Road would cost about $496,000. Developers have contributed about half of that amount.
"Macbeth would be a major collector east from 32 through several subdivisions," said Horn.
On the west side of Route 32, Piney Ridge Parkway would parallel Route 26 and divert traffic as far west as White Rock Road. Horn asked for $40,000 in engineering funds for fiscal 2000, which will begin July 1, and $421,000 the next year for construction of the parkway.
Obrecht Road is the costliest of the recommended projects at nearly $5 million. The county hopes to improve the road and extend it from Route 97 to Route 32.
The project has a long history of alternative paths to avoid wetlands and private property. Not decided is where Obrecht would intersect Route 32.
Engineering and land acquisition for Obrecht would cost $1.4 million, with an additional $3.5 million for construction in 2002.
"We would not have a 55 mile-per-hour superhighway with Obrecht, but traffic could maintain a constant speed and get to Route 32," said J. Michael Evans, county director of public works. "We need to rebuild from Route 97 to White Rock and straighten out the curves."
On the north side of Route 26, the county would extend Dickenson Lane from Georgetown Boulevard to Monroe Avenue at a cost of $2.1 million. Construction would begin in 2004.
The commissioners are awaiting budget reports before making any decisions.
"We will look over the requests and talk to budget," said Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge. "They will tell us what we can and cannot do."
Frazier priorities
Commissioner Robin Bartlett Frazier said she will make MacBeth Way and Dickenson Lane her priorities.
"But first I want to look at other roads in the county, not just South Carroll," Frazier said.
Commissioner Donald I. Dell agreed with Frazier's two choices and said he will add Georgetown Boulevard to the immediate list. Plans call for a $3 million extension from Londontown Boulevard to Bennett Road, with construction set for 2005.
The county could make improvements to Georgetown a condition of its approval for the Promenade, a $30 million shopping center planned for Route 32 at Londontown Boulevard. The project, which could dump 15,000 more vehicles a day onto area roads, will soon be making its way through development review.
A $68,000 traffic study, completed in December 1997, said the connectors are the only way to improve failed intersections and prevent numerous accidents along the highways. Without the improvements, South Carroll is facing severe congestion as early as 2002, it said.
Increasing demand
Increasing demand on the highways is coming from local and through traffic, the study showed. More than half of the 28,000 people in the district commute daily to jobs outside the county. Traffic floods the highways at peak hours.
Many major intersections, including the main crossroads on Routes 26 and 32, will soon cause unacceptable delays for motorists without major, costly improvements, the report said. Traffic increases by 2 percent annually.
The resulting impact will lead to "unacceptable operations during both the morning and evening peak hours at all intersections along Route 32, including the primary crossroads with Route 26," the study said.
Pub Date: 3/03/99