road transportation

Thinking big doesn't necessarily mean another Bay Bridge

Party platforms show Democrats and Republican hold opposite views of the future of U.S. public transportation

CSX is replacing the surface at the railroad crossing and re-paving the railroad approaches.

Mulberry Street could be closed for weeks because of a growing sinkhole that may have developed undetected even as crews recently worked to replace a water main on the thoroughfare.

By Scott Dance

Jul 5, 2016

Does it really do much good to hand out pamphlets on safe driving to people when they're driving?

People walking or driving in downtown Bel Air today (Friday) could run into some brightly-decorated volunteers giving out information on how they can be even better pedestrians or drivers.

Young professionals and other commuters in Maryland and around the country are driving less than they have in the past, according to a new study by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

It's massive, but it probably isn't enough. If it were enough, no one would be worried about traffic impacts from the planned new Walmart.

Residents of Morse Road in Western Harford County filed suit in Circuit Court against the Colonial Oil Company and the County Board of Zoning Appeals to stop construction of an oil storage tank farm. The court action followed an Appeals Board decision to permit construction on a 300-acre farm. The oil company qualified as a public utility and would construct a 30-by-60-foot building and five oil storage tanks which would be confined to a 25-acre space.

The construction time of this year's Grand Prix of Baltimore course has been reduced by 10 days, softening the effects on city traffic and downtown businesses, officials for the Labor Day weekend event announced Tuesday.

The construction time of this year's Grand Prix of Baltimore course has been reduced by 10 days, softening the effects on city traffic and downtown businesses, officials for the Labor Day weekend event announced Tuesday.

Teenagers in Maryland and across the country are receiving driver's licenses in fewer numbers than in years past, according to a national study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Even though a state project to add express toll lanes to I-95 in Harford County, and possibly build a new park-and-ride lot near the highway interchange with Route 152 (Mountain Road) in the Joppa area, is years away, state transportation officials are continuing their quest for environmental permits.

The State Highway Administration is wrapping up a longtime road improvement project on Route 155 in Havre de Grace, while a second project will also launch soon farther west along the road.

Another segment of Wheel Road near Bel Air is scheduled to be closed to through traffic next week, as the final phase begins on the major reconstruction of the road that links several communities south and east of the county seat.

The detour for Moores Mill Road in Bel Air between Broadway (Route 1) and the Southampton Circle went into place as scheduled on Wednesday. That stretch Moores Mill will be closed to thru traffic for at least 10 months, as the county straightens, widens and repaves the roadway, a $2.1 million project.

A $2 million construction project by the Maryland State Highway Administration in partnership with Carroll County is expected to improve safety at the intersection of Stone Road and Maryland 97 north of Westminster.

Walter E. Woodford Jr., a state highway engineer and executive who supervised road construction from Ocean City to Garrett County and headed building of the second span of the Bay Bridge in 1973, died of congestive heart failure May 22 at the Hospice Center in Centreville. He was 88 and had lived in Timonium and Centreville.

Harford County Public Works announced Wednesday that Moores Mill Road between Route 1 (Conowingo Road – North Hickory Avenue) and Southampton Road in Bel Air will be closed for 10 months starting on June 12.

Holiday travelers know what Uncle Sam should — U.S. needs a creative solution to fixing its ailing and underfunded infrastructure

Construction on the first half of an interchange on Route 175 aimed at providing easier access to Blandair park could begin as early as this fall.

Seminary Avenue at the light rail crossing in Lutherville is scheduled to be closed for five days beginning 10 a.m. Friday for track and road improvement work.

The state on Friday will begin a weeklong project to install new safety measures on the westbound span of the Bay Bridge to guide traffic during two-way operation and eliminate some lane changes.

Baltimore County will spend approximately $3 million to replace 2,700 feet of water pipe on York Road just north of downtown Towson, the latest in a series of improvements along to the area's main commercial artery.

A three-vehicle collision closed two traffic lanes and the shoulder of the outer loop, and other multiple-vehicle collisions shut down shoulders of southbound I-95 in Howard and Baltimore counties.

McDonald's officials are upgrading their restaurants around the country, including those in Harford County, but plans to refurbish the nearly 40-year-old establishment at the southwest corner of Route 1 (Baltimore Pike) and Route 24 entering Bel Air have hit a snag.

Route 22 in Aberdeen is lined with empty houses marked "No Trespassing," as the State Highway Administration moves forward with plans to raze 18 homes along the road between Beards Hill Road and Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The utility trucks which have been seen along Moores Mill Road in Bel Air in recent days and weeks should soon be departing – and replaced by construction equipment – as Harford County officials prepare for a nearly year-long widening and improvement project along a section of the residential thoroughfare.

The construction sector, which has been in the tank for the better part of five years, is on the verge of receiving a sizable infusion of money from recent decisions in Annapolis.

The Maryland General Assembly gave final approval Friday to Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed gas tax increase, raising costs for motorists while providing an infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars a year for new roads and mass transit projects.

Ellen Sauerbrey says businesses should have pushed for stronger measures against transportation fund raids

Gas tax opponents are wrong to suggest that spending more on transit shortchanges motorists

The House of Delegates voted Friday to raise taxes on gasoline for the first time since 1992, heeding Gov. Martin O'Malley's call for an infusion of money to pay for roads, mass transit and other transportation priorities.

GOP delegates denounce gas tax increase

With gasoline prices hovering at the $4 a gallon level, Maryland motorists can ill afford to pony up even more. According to Americans for Prosperity Maryland, Maryland motorists are facing a gas tax increase of more than 60 percent if O'Malley's transportation funding proposal becomes law.

Although workers building express toll lanes have become a common sight on I-95 in Baltimore County, Harford County residents should not expect to see the same thing in the near future.

Raising gas taxes will harm Maryland's economy and unfairly burden motorists

It may well come to pass that the wider I-95 project initially proposed for the Edgewood and Joppa areas will come back into favor sooner rather than later. Then

Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly are proposing to raise taxes on gasoline by $2 billion over five years to finance highways, transit and other transportation projects.

MedStar Health's plan to build a $30 million medical facility on the outskirts of Bel Air, at Emmorton and Plumtree roads, cleared nearly every aspect of a Harford County Development Advisory Committee review Wednesday morning. The one exception was the proposed traffic plan for a key intersection south of the site.

State highway officials are cautioning motorists to expect major delays near Old Court Road and Park Heights Avenue in Pikesville as city crews work to repair a leaking water main.

As the General Assembly nears the halfway point in its 90-day session, Gov. Martin O'Malley and key legislators have yet to agree on a plan to pay for new roads, bridges and transit lines – a decision many consider critical to Maryland's economy.

Miller reports progress on transportation revenue

What may one day lay claim to being one of the longest running bridge replacement projects in the annals of the Harford County Department of Public Works had yet another design change order approved last week by the county Board of Estimates.

Ill-considered bill to install slot machines at BWI shows how desperate some in Annapolis have become

BGE reports back to Roland Park Civic League on causes of frequent power outages, exacerbated by super storm Sandy, and how to mitigate them.

Carroll County school system officials and principals say snow hit at exactly the wrong time for decision-making on whether to close schools, resulting in a late decision that forced some buses to bring kids back home again.

Attempting to break a years-long stalemate over transportation revenue, Senate President Thomas V. Miller intends to introduce his own legislation this year to provide new funding for roads ands transit using methods that break out of Maryland's traditional formulas.

The controversy over whether to change Maryland's three-year-old speed camera law arrived in Annapolis Tuesday, with some lawmakers calling for accountability and the State Highway Administration pitching the value of its program.

Drivers on Interstate 95 near Laurel can expect delays as the State Highway Administration is closing a section of I-95 overnight to allow for bridge work. The overnight closings began Jan. 13 and will continue at least through mid-March, according to SHA.