The Constant Friendship shopping district in Abingdon turned into a constant backup Thursday, with hundreds of drivers trapped for several hours in a less-than-friendly traffic jam and overwhelming the county’s 911 call center.
The backup stretched along Constant Friendship Boulevard, from the Wal-Mart at the intersection with Tollgate Road, to Target and back toward BJ’s Wholesale Club. The traffic jam triggered a response from local law enforcement, including the Maryland State Police and Harford County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the State Highway Administration.
The area has been home to some of the county’s worst traffic in recent years as new businesses, such as Target, PetSmart, and Lowe’s, have opened their doors. The situation was made worse by the ongoing major construction at the Rt. 24 and Rt. 924 intersection, and the rush hour commute.
“I guess the combination of shopping, construction, and the commute made it kind of a mess,” said Lt. Charles Moore of the Maryland State Police’s Bel Air barracks.
However, frustrated drivers began calling 9-1-1, according to Harford County Emergency Operations Center Deputy Manager Rick Ayers, overwhelming the county’s call center. To try and stem the tide, the center issued a robo-call through its Connect-CTY mass notification system warning residents about the extreme congestion:
Good Evening. This is the Harford Co. Emergency Operations Center with an important message. We are experiencing heavy congested traffic on Rt. 24 and the Tollgate Rd. area. Please be patient and travel with caution if you are traveling through this area tonight. Thank you for your assistance and patience.
“The on-duty shift manager said it started in the early afternoon and continued for hours,” Ayers said. “When you get people calling like that, you don’t know what the situation is, you have to take the call.”
“Even though it [the robo-call about traffic congestion] is probably not an ideal way to use the system, yesterday was an extreme case,” Ayers added. “I don’t know that we’ve ever used it for that purpose.”
Moore said the worst of the backup lasted between two and four hours, with some drivers likely stuck in their cars for about two hours. He said the situation was handled by a coordinated response between the state police, sheriff’s office, and SHA, with officers directing traffic to attempt to clear vehicles from the area.
Moore said conditions improved as the evening went on and fewer motorists passed through the area.
“Once we came up with a strategy, it seemed to ease congestion,” he said. “And the time factor—as time went on, it removed the commuter traffic, which helped.”
Though the possibility of injuries to officers directing traffic and medical issues suffered by drivers stuck in their cars was a concern, Moore said no such incidents were reported.
Do you have a holiday traffic horror story to share? Let us know below.
Baloney on the county’s response. I got trapped in that traffic mess myself for two hours. There were no police and no response whatsoever from the county that I could see. It was a potentially dangerous situation and its only through sheer luck that no one was seriously injured either by accident or worse yet due to the anger and frustration people were feeling. I saw numerous vehicles using the emergency/turn lane to bypass all the law abiding people waiting in the line of traffic. You know the ones..the same people who think the parking spaces at the shopping center are for other people and they park in the parcel pickup lane by the door because they’re special. The county was slow and inadequate as usual. I’m sure glad we wasted all our tax dollars on the robo-call system instead of putting the money to good use like a second way out of that shopping center!!!
Right you are John, the police did nothing to help, look at the comments above! They just waited until the traffic cleared itself! “I guess the combination of shopping, construction, and the commute made it kind of a mess,” is the great observation from the police. I guess no one could have predicted construction (been there for a year), commuting (end of the workday) and shopping (two days before Christmas).
I sat on the BJ’s lot for 30 minutes and didn’t move. When “Highway to Hell” came up on the radio, it seemed appropriate. What’s traffic going to be like at the intersection when Wegman’s is finished?
I shop at BJ’s but that area always seems claustrophobic, with just one exit by WalMart. If you check the map of the area, there’s no easy way out. A new exit could be built from the BJ’s lot across Winter’s Run, exiting to Route 7 via Fashion Way, but that’s a narrow road. One could go under/over I-95 to join Emmorton Park Road through that industrial park to Emmorton Road or Lakeside Blvd., but again, small roads and bridging I-95 is improbable.
An exit from Arundel Ct., the road by Target, to southbound Rte. 24 would probably run afoul of all the plans for the new interchange traffic patterns. And going up to the developments along Cristfield Drive to Tollgate Road would bring strong opposition from the residents of that area.
The most ill-conceived zoning idea ever. Even when the new intersection is done, the Boulevard at Box Hill will compound the problem.
Way to go, HarCo government!!!
What in the world goes through the minds of these “planners” in our County Government? What are their bona-fides? Do they even CARE about the consequences of their actions? Or are they just so intent on increasing the tax base so they can piss away more of our ever-increasing tax dollars? Change the name to Cluster-F**k County, a more deserved and descriptive moniker!
That area has been a nightmare and has continued to be one for years and it won’t get better – just worse if that’s possible. I avoided that area during this shopping season for that very fear of insane backups. I won’t go there in the future either, there are plenty of those box stores a few miles away in other areas with less headaches. I wish I could shop closer but it’s not worth it. I’ve been waiting years for Wegman’s but I know I won’t go due to the traffic nightmare. sad. I guess the C- engineering students won the contract for that intersection.
If this traffic bothers you, wait till BRAC fully gets here. Everyone will have to adjust as is most cases with a community whose pubic transportation routes lag behind future initiatives. Theres no getting around it though, but it sure is nice living outside of that corridor. The roads are way behind in catching up with thoroughfare traffic now and in the future. Adjust accordingly when you want to go shopping I guess..like MRMARKN said above its not going to get better. BRAC… been there, done that, got the T-shirt! Its a great economic opportunity but residents will have to adjust their daily lives. Not saying that’s an excuse for the constant friendship debacle..it could have been done better I think. But I just pay the taxes…its up to HC to spend it wisely!
How about this for another example of a debacle? Let’s close down Ring Factory Road between 24 and Tollgate right before the biggest shopping weekend? Of course there is a development right at that corner and they want to work on the sewer stuff now. It couldn’t at least wait a few weeks? People who visit who don’t live here can’t believe how horrible the traffic is or how people that live here can stand it.
20 years ago they wanted to put a mall in that location with its own on and off ramp’s from 95 but nobody wanted the increase in traffic in the neighborhood so it was shot down. Guess that idea doesn’t look so bad now? Anyone in their right mind knows to avoid that area like the plague around the holidays.
I can’t believe people called 911 to complain that they were stuck in traffic! Anyone who is dumb enough to call an emergency number for something so stupid should be fined! If you want to go shopping this time of year you should expect to get stuck in traffic especially when your in a shopping center with one entrance/exit. People need to use more common sense especially when using an emergency number. I hope no one with a TRUE emergency was unable to get through because of all the idiots from constant friendship crying about being stuck in traffic.
I’m not surprised. People call 911 about barking dogs, kids playing basketball in a cul-de-sac in the middle of the afternoon, getting cold food from a drive-thru, etc all the time.
What are the police going to do, come pick up the cars and move them? LOL. Everyone is calling the police but use your brain…they can’t do a thing. Not their fault.
A friend of mine wrote to the county about this problem some time ago, before the Starbucks, Petsmart, etc went in, and was told the county did a comprehensive traffic study on that road in 1987 so a new one was not needed! Really!!! That was the response. You can’t make it up!
another way out is needed. anybody from around here knows not to go in that place during peak shopping hours. Maybe when Walmart shuts the Abindgon store down in a couple years some of the congestion will go with it.
YES THEY NEED EITHER ANOTHER WAY OUT OR CLOSE THE STORE. ABIGDON IS SO CONGESTED ANYWAY. EVEN 24 IS A MESS.
I am all for “keeping it local” but I avoid that area of town at all costs. I shop only in locally owned stores, rarely in chain stores, and when I am unable to do that, I shop online through a friend’s portal (which has access to thousands of stores and earns me cash back). It’s worth the small price in shipping to save the gas and aggravation. I do this year round because I have a disability and it’s physically prohibitive for me to be in a car for that long or do alot of walking (from far away parking spots or standing in long lines).
I KNOW it’s only going to get worse with BRAC; I feel sorry for the merchants too; no one wants to go to their store because of all of the traffic and such. Someone really needs to figure this out.
As a resident of the area. This was an extreme case of what happens every day at the intersection. I avoid using it when possible. It is made worse by people who are in so much of a hurry they refuse to follow the posted traffic laws. People who pull into intersections and stop. People who use the wrong lane and scoot over at the last minute to fly by the others going the way they want to go. The bridge will help some.
No question – this is one of the biggest planning debacles by county and state officials. But what baffles me the most is why those dummies familiar with the traffic issues in that area ventured out into it. Moreover, what were those dummies thinking by calling 911; what did they expect the police to do. I agree with one of the writers here who suggesting those who called 911 should be fined. Now you know . . . don’t be a dummy for the upcoming holiday and get caught up in the heavy traffic and shop early next Christmas. It’s not going to get any better !!!
This should be sent to Bill O’Reilly to be added to the pinhead category (the engineers, politicians, and the dummies that got caught up in it).
The Police were there but then people started complaining about the Police where making it worse so the DO’s pulled their men. But hey when in doubt blame the Police.
I think the point of calling 911 was to make someone in a position of authority aware of the dangerous activity. I don’t think anyone expected the police to “pick up the cars”. As I mentioned, I saw at least 4 or 5 cars speeding up the center turn lane from as far back as Pet Smart and I watched them zoom all the way up to Walmart. Would you prefer we wait until someone gets seriously injured and the emergency vehicles can’t reach them? Laws were being broken, people’s safety was put at risk. The police are there to protect and serve. That’s all anyone wanted I’m sure. As for what the county could do, how about simply adjusting the timing of the lights to allow more cars to exit the shopping center to ease the congestion. I’m going to go out on a limb here but I’d bet that no one sat on RT24 or 924 for 2 hours. There was clearly room to adjust the lights to help the situation. The last thing I’ll throw out there is for the people who suggest we drive further away to shop. I hope you aren’t taking your money to Baltimore County instead of putting it back into the local economy. The two failed businesses in that center should serve as a reminder that we need to support our own. Let’s not just go somewhere else instead of dealing with the problems in our own backyard.
John my wife took an hour at the light on 24 to get home from work. On weekends I watch people leave the shopping center and make rights on red they shouldn’t make hoping to catch the light. This backs up traffic the otherway. The failure of that intersection is people who do not use it properely. I only know of one failed buisness back there. What is the second one?
The restaurant next to BJs has failed twice and a month or so ago the mini-golf/laser tag complex filed bankruptcy and closed.
The COuntry Kitchen was the only occupant of the resturant I thought? Did not know Laser Tag/Mini Golf filed for bankruptcy. Still looks open to me.
No, it was auctioned off and opened briefly as a pizza place. It didn’t last long. The other business (Stars and Stripes) closed not long ago. It was in the Aegis. http://www.exploreharford.com/news/7110/fine-follows-foreclosure-stars-stripes-abingdon-closes-doors/
Granted the intersection was a mess before the construction, but it has been significantly worse since. Why anyone would even approach that shopping center during the afternoon or evening in the WEEK before Christmas is completely lost on me. BJ’s doesn’t have good prices on non-grocery items, there’s another Target, a Home Depot, and another Petsmart up in Bel Air, liqour stores everywhere, banks and McDonald’s everywhere, Starbucks everywhere— oh wait, it must have been for the movies and Chik Fil A. Idiots. I didn’t do any shopping after 10am or before 9pm. Practically every store in the world has early and late hours, why does everyone wait to the last minute and go at the same time? Idiots. Cry me a river about your backup. If you work in there, I feel sorry for you, that sucks!