GREAT NEWS FOR HOWARD COUNTY CITIZENS LIVING AND COMMUTING ON ROUTE 32 NORTH OF ROUTE 70

Received from State Highway 7-22-10

I am pleased to inform you that our paving contractor will be initiating work on the evening of Monday, July 26 to address the areas where we have already experienced failed pavement sections as well as areas to prevent future premature failures in the roadway sections completed last fall.  The work is anticipated to take 4-6 weeks, weather permitting and will be conducted at night. 

 

We have also received funding to initiate preliminary engineering (PE) for improvements on MD 32 at Day Road to create deceleration and acceleration lanes as well as continuing the continuous center turn lane north from Day Road to West Friendship Road which is the same typical section we implemented in a majority of the corridor during the work last fall.  We will still need to identify additional funding to complete the PE and the subsequent phases of right of way and construction.

 

We will be working shortly to schedule a fall meeting to update you on follow up studies we committed to during our last meeting with the Make Route 32 Safe group as well as present the Access Management Plan for the corridor.

 

Thanks for your continued cooperation and support and please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or require any additional information. 

 

Dave

7-13-2010

Had a great meeting with County Executive Ken Ulman last week.

Ken said Route 32 is his #1 priority this year for the County Transportation Plan to the State. This is very important in order to get a study started on what can be done with the road to make it safer and determine what our community may approve. The short term Goals are Acceleration/Deceleration lane for Day Road south bound as well Emory to Indian North Bound. Also, they are going to do a study to determine if a red light camera can be installed at 99 and 32.

Middle term goals are to get us safe access from our communities and driveways to and from route 32. This may be accomplished by the use of  access roads to an entry point of some type on and off of 32 where we will have enough vehicles passing through an intersection to meet fed guidelines to install either a light, traffic circle, maybe even a ramp who knows? These types of alternate plans are put together in a study by professional traffic engineers and then discussed in a partnership with the community to determine the best resolution. As well the study looks at cultural and environmental impacts, right away issues and much more. Long term Goals are still to be determined. I have come to the conclusion from talking to many people in our community most do not want 32 to become a major highway and they want to focus on safety and access. County Executive Ken Ulman seems to agree with that position.

We are continuing to move forward.

1. Click here See letter from State Highway Administration
   

Another Win for Our Community:

Highs was denied the request to modify zoning on livestock road. The vote was 5 - 0 against Highs by the county council / zoning board. The primary concern was safety, followed by land use, and conflicting concerns of safety vs negative impacts of existing business's on livestock road. Highs was willing to spend 2 the 3 hundred thousand dollars in order to make the intersection safer and they should be commended. This project was truly trying to squeeze a square peg through a round hole.

Makeroute32safe.com will continue to monitor our community and continue to work hard with our political leaders to make our road safer.

Issues

1. 1. Route 32 Improvements
   

1. Good News For Day Road. Funds have been identified for  preliminary engineering “design work” for a deceleration and acceleration lane on southbound 32 at Day Road.  See Letter Below
   

1. Not good news for long term Route 32 North of 70 improvements. The State will not look at long term or current capacity issues or the safety issue that goes along with capacity unless Howard County / County Executive Ken Ulman Makes Route 32 a top or #1 Priority on the County Transportation Plan.
   

1. But wait, County Executive Ken Ulman placed Route 32 as the #1 concern for safety and safety is the #1 concern for the County as stated on the latest Howard County Transportation plan.
   

1. I am confused. How can SHA claim traffic safety is their number 1 concern, Howard County claim safety is the number 1 concern, but at the same time everybody is ignoring the 500 pound gorilla in the room  threatening our safety, which is the traffic volume, number of access points, speed, and capacity limitations of Route 32 all of which help create aggressive drivers and all of which threaten our lives and safety everyday. Then in the same letter from SHA write safety is their top concern if it is identified by the county (which it was.)  Yet it is being ignored!