To our Route 32 Family;
I have some great news but before I get to it I would like you to read the following:
I want to start this letter by asking you all to take a quick moment of silence or a quick prayer for the victims of Route 32 and for the families that have suffered pain beyond my comprehension. ……………….
I have never been involved in a community action group to get the government to do anything. There are no “How to get government motivated" books. There are no maps to success. Our leadership team is working very hard and created our own path through this process to help make our community safer.
What we as a “Route 32 community” have accomplished thus far, although we have some critics, I think has been truly amazing. Before Brian’s tragic accident we were on track to get improvements made to Route 32 in the spring 2010. Though many of you think that is slow, please keep in mind some individual communities have been fighting for change for over a decade and some for even longer with absolutely no results.
As a community, as a corridor, your voices have been heard, your stories have been read, and your concerns have been understood by decision makers in government. Your participation and voicing your concerns is the catapult of changes you are starting to see today. Our team has had late night and early morning meetings, 2-3 hour Sunday conversations, late night interactions amongst ourselves and with elected officials and government staff. The fact that so many people in our community showed up to that July 30th meeting has truly been a source of power. That meeting gave the makeroute32safe.com team a voice and the power to be heard. For that I commend you-our neighbors.
I want to make sure there is no confusion.
Your Job as a member of the community is not done. Although the attached press release is a very good and is a very important step moving forward, it is just that a first step or phase one. We still need your presence this Thursday 9-17-09, 7:00 PM at the Howard County Board of Education. It would be of great assistance to our cause if the community positively reinforces our appreciation to Maryland State Highway for making these changes and safety modifications. I know some communities still have very valid concerns, let me reassure you makeroute32safe.com will continue to work for you. This group is about the corridor as a whole. At Thursday's meeting, I desperately request as a community that we avoid outburst that are counter productive to our cause of making Route 32 safe. Our state officials are working their tails off to help protect all of us. Some of them are our neighbors and travel on this road everyday.
Our workgroup in the strongest words will continue to push for additional intersection modification, reduced speed limits, traffic signals, and access modification. Your presence at this meeting will be an important measure in protecting lives. Remember each community must support the other to make Route 32 safe for everyone.
I want to conclude by thanking the following people for all the very hard work they have done to make these improvements immediately, and the plans for the near future improvements such as traffic signals, reduced speed limits and access consolidation. Our elected officials Warren Miller and Gail Bates have been incredibly involved and instrumental in this process. They deserve special Kudos for coming to the majority of our workshop meetings and offering great advice. As well Senator Kittleman and Greg Fox have supported our efforts. Karen Knight Greg Fox’s assistant has been incredibly helpful and has also been to the majority of our work shops. Jen Teresa, a friend of mine all the way back to my high School days also a Howard County Council Woman not even from our district has been very instrumental in offering her assistance to help save lives on Route 32. I want to offer one huge Thank You to Ginnie Gick, Ken Ulman’s Community Liaison; she has done everything possible to help our cause that a human can do. A big giant thank you to Diane Schwarzman she is a traffic engineer for Howard County and has the best “we will find a way to get it done” approach I have ever seen. Last but not least, Ken Ulman. Ken has taken this issue head on. There has never been a project to this scale done at this speed in Howard County. I have no idea how he has managed to do it. Ken “Thank You” a hundred times over. Ken has worked very hard with Governor Martin O’Malley and somehow got the funding to make this happen. This Community should realize how incredibly difficult his job is in the current financial crisis our country is in. If this were the Olympics Ken just got a gold metal. As well, I want to thank Governor O’Malley for understanding how important this issue is, providing leadership with State Highway, and helping to save lives along Route 32.
Please read the attached letter from Ken Ulman and press Release. See you at the meeting tomorrow 7PM.
Thanks
Howard Blackman
Dear Friends,
I am pleased this morning to announce that we have reached an agreement with the State to begin making immediate safety improvements to Route 32, as detailed in the attached press release that we are issuing this morning.
I would like thank Governor O’Malley for responding to our request to develop a viable solution to this critical safety issue. With these improvements, I am certain Route 32 will be safer for all to travel in the near future. In fact, work has already begun on several of the improvements outlined in the press release.
I also want to thank you for your support and assistance throughout this process. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact Ginnie Gick, my Community Liaison, at 410-313-2450 or ggick@howardcountymd.gov.
Sincerely,
Ken Ulman
Howard County Executive
Press Release:
September 16, 2009
Media Contacts:
Kevin Enright, Director, Office of Public Information, 410-313-2022
Valerie Burnette-Edgar, State Highway Administration, 410-545-0303
Ulman and O’Malley Administration Announce Safety Changes to MD Route 32
ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Ken Ulman and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley announced today that immediate safety improvements will be made to MD Route 32, north of I-70 in Howard County. Two recent fatal crashes in the area have highlighted the need for immediate action to address the safety concerns of the community.
“I appreciate the O’Malley Administration’s quick response to our concerns,” said Executive Ulman. “While we can’t undo the terrible tragedies that have occurred in the past, the planned improvements will make the road safer and lessen the future risk to drivers on this busy highway.”
“The recent fatalities in two different crashes are terrible tragedies. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those lost,” said SHA Administrator Neil J. Pedersen. “SHA met with the community and their biggest concern was related to making left-turns into the communities with fast-moving traffic coming from behind. We are able to make some short-term and longer term modifications that should increase driver awareness and slow traffic, hopefully preventing similar accidents.”
Effective immediately, the State Highway Administration (SHA) will begin implementation of the following measures:
· Install three oversized warning signs facing both the north and southbound traffic on MD Route 32 between MD Route 99 and the Carroll County line; the signs will display this message, “Pay Attention—Watch for Left Turning Traffic”
· Install intersection warning signs (symbol signs showing left turn), with street names for River Road, Amberwoods Way and Day Road
· Install rumble strips in the travel lane (northbound and southbound on MD-Route 32) approximately 500 ft. prior to River Road, Amberwoods Way and Day Road
· Close passing zones and replace with a solid centerline near River Road, Amberwoods Way and Day Road
· Deploy speed trailers to this area; one trailer in each direction, showing oncoming traffic how fast it is traveling
-- more --
Page 2
September 16, 2009
Ulman and O’Malley Administration Announce Safety Changes to MD Route 32 (continued)
The State Highway Administration (SHA) has also agreed that in fall 2009 they will:
· Construct a pavement overlay and re-stripe MD Route 32 at River Road, Amberwoods Way and Day Road; this will provide separate left-turn lanes at each of these intersections
· In order to improve the visibility for the driver of the location of the travel lanes and to reduce vehicle speeds, the centerline and edge line markings will be increased to 10 inches in line width; this change will begin at MD Route 99 and continue to the Howard County Line
· SHA will continue to collect traffic data and evaluate potential traffic safety enhancements for other intersections within the corridor
|
Earlier this year Executive Ulman sent the Maryland Department of Transportation the County’s annual priority projects list, and in that letter Ulman made “highway safety on MD Route 32” his “critical safety priority.”
|
