From Harford County government:
Harford County has secured grant funding to evaluate conditions and identify potential improvements along the busy MD 924 corridor between Abingdon, near the I-95/MD 24 interchange, and MacPhail Road, located just south of the Town of Bel Air. Funding of $225,000 to study the 4.5 mile corridor will come mainly from federal sources, approved Tuesday by the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB). Harford County Executive Barry Glassman is a BRTB member, and an advocate for the study.
“Improving the safety and functionality of the MD 924 corridor would benefit our entire community,” said County Executive Glassman. “This section of state road is an important piece of our local transportation network, affecting many citizens who live, work, shop and travel in the area. I would like to thank my fellow BRTB members for supporting this important study.”
The Harford County Department of Planning and Zoning will manage the corridor study, which will evaluate operational conditions and generate a list of feasible and cost-effective improvements that would enhance safety and traffic movement along the corridor and adjacent areas, and provide better cohesion with the surrounding road network. The study will also identify multimodal transportation opportunities, such as sidewalks and bike lanes, and address ways to enhance livability for nearby communities.
Better hurry, before Wal-Mart opens. They might have to line more politicians pockets to get the access they want for the new store.
HA! Why do you think they are doing the study? Planning for the unstoppable Wal Mart onslaught.
Yes! Bike lanes are exactly what we need to add to the congestion on 924. Thank goodness Baaaary was on the BRTB.
Wow. Bike lanes are intended to, and have shown to, reduce congestion. Educate yourself.
Most of 924 is a good place for them, as there is a single road with shopping and employment centers in close proximity to residential areas. It screams for bike access.
Hi Noble,
I would have welcomed bike/pedestrian paths on my stretch of Laurel Bush when my son was growing up. Back then it was a sleepy rural road. Since then the development envelope has developed and now it’s too late. At rush hour I may have to wait a few minutes to pull out of my street.
The intent of PLANMD, Smart Growth and the upcoming MP redo, when it comes to bike paths, is to cut emissions by getting people out of their cars. Unfortunately, this is based on unproven, that’s right, UNPROVEN science. What is known is that these plans will have a great negative impact on our way of life and pocketbook. Bike paths, traffic calming methods and VMT taxes are tools that our officials use to make driving too much trouble.
I think walkable communities and the plans to achieve them are a great idea as long as it is not to the detriment of motor vehicle use
The preferred and time efficient auto (even in congestion) is the choice of busy 2 job/2 kid suburban families. My neighbors will not be footing or pedaling it to the Festival when they need to return with 5 bags of groceries after a stop at the dry cleaners.
Bike paths are a great recreational investment that can sometimes be used for travel given the right situation. The linked article shows that paths in previously uncongested areas will increase congestion but not dramatically. They are not suited for congested avenues like 924 which will only be more so as the DE becomes more and more dense.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/bike-lanes-dont-cause-traffic-jams-if-youre-smart-about-where-you-build-them/
I trust it’s objectivity as it is not a “study” from a biking enthusiast journal.
http://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/04/11/bike-lanes-dont-lead-to-congestion-but-some-of-them-should/
This article is a critique of the first, basically agreeing with the findings but going on to say that the creation of congestion is the intent. Make drivers miserable enough and they’ll find another way. This is social engineering, community be damned if you don’t like it!
I always appreciate respectful and thoughtful replies.
I don’t advocate for removing a traffic lane, which is what is referenced in your link. Especially since a lot of 924 is just one lane. Bike lanes should be created from space where there is sufficient right of way to make one, and connected to sidewalks in a logical fashion.
I’d just like to see well planned bike lanes and sidewalks that actually usefully connect people between places they would want to go in a bike/walk fashion. Yes, nobody is walking to the grocery store and carrying 12 bags home. But there are plenty of other examples. People would bike to say, a bike shop. Or walk to a coffee shop.
You are correct in that 924 is heavily used, and perhaps too heavily used to entice people out of their cars. However, the purpose of the study, I feel, is to identify how the roadway can be improved for the benefit of the community, and one of those items might be redefining how the road is used entirely.
One of the most common complaints you hear from people is that too many people use 924 when they should be using 24. So let’s make 24 work right and return 924 to something more like we want to see it. If we did that I think people would be more inclined walk/bike it in the short lengths i’m referring to.
I don’t expect people in Abingdon to commute to work in Bel Air by bike. But I can see people leaving their subdivision and walking a half mile to do a little shopping in nice weather. I can see biking over to the new public park at Plumtree.
But if you never make it even possible for people to do it, it can never happen.
Rt. 24 should have been built without at-grade intersections. This would get most traffic of off Rt. 924. I choose to use 924 because of the volume of traffic and fewer traffic lights in certain places.
The new interchange from route 7, moving down route 24 towards 924 has got to be one of THE worst areas of traffic in Harford County. The new traffic pattern and bridge have done little to ease the congestion. The timing of the lights at Edgewood Road and 24 is horrific. There’s only ONE lane going to the 95 exits and 924. How can that possibly be efficient??? Often times getting to 95 from route 7, going down 24 takes upwards of 40 minutes or MORE!
It’s bad. But does anyone have any suggestions? I’ve spoken with folks at SHA and all the ideas they kicked around would adversely impact traffic somewhere else. There are no perfect solutions for that stretch.
Also, they’ve said repeatedly that their main purpose for the redesign of that area was to get backed up traffic off the exit ramps of 95 to Rt24, because that congestion caused a lot of accidents. That part at least seemed to improve. Of course in doing so, they basically moved the “problem” to somewhere else, where there are less accidents.
One thing I don’t understand is why they let any of the traffic from the “Edgewood/Bel Air” exit that turns left onto 24 North have access to the “Tollgate/924” lanes? If you just put up some traffic sticks to block that access you could make two of the 24 North lanes at Edgewood Rd onto “Tollgate/924” instead of just one, which would help a lot.
I do agree that there is little to no congestion on the ramps, which is perfect. I also agree on your point that 924 should be blocked from the northbound exit. There have been a few times where I’ve tried merging onto 924 and someone comes across from that turn lane and almost hit me.
My suggestion would be to make the right turn lane on 24 (in front of the park and ride and Denny’s) a straightaway/right turn lane and remove the divider that would block that from happening. Maybe this would alleviate some of the back up since there are a lot of drivers that need access to 95 and often times head down 24 and cut across the lanes to get there. The traffic light timing should probably be evaluated as well. I have not sat there and timed it but I think the information would be helpful and at a low cost.
It should’ve been a flyover from I95N to 24N, not an at-grade intersection stopping 24S traffic.
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The State never completed the project. There is still work to be done.