From the office of Harford County Councilman Jim McMahan:
DELAYED OPENING (AGAIN)
NEW OVERPASS BRIDGE ON MD 24 AT MD 924/TOLLGATE ROAD TO OPEN SOON PERHAPS TOMORROW WEATHER PERMITTING
Traffic to and from Bel Air to Bypass Signal; New Traffic Patterns on I-95 Ramps to MD 24 and MD 924 STATE POLICE WILL PERFORM TRAFFIC DRAGS TO ASSIST MOTORIST INTO THE NEW PATTERNS
Weather permitting, by approximately 5 a.m. Tomorrow, the new MD 24 bridge over MD 924 (Emmorton Road) and Tollgate Road will be open to traffic.
New enforcement of old law
Harford County Planning and Zoning officials have been making their rounds to different community councils, providing information about a pilot program that started Oct. 1. Harford County is launching a volunteer program to remove unsightly yard signs from the rights of way at intersections across the county. In addition to a traffic hazard by blocking the sight lines of drivers, they are an invasion into landscape everyone should be able to enjoy. The signs are illegal and the county is coordinating volunteers to follow established guidelines, and remove the signs. In the future the illegal signs can carry up to a $25 fine each. The county program will coincide with a state program that will involve removing signs and a fine for those individuals or businesses that violate. The sign law has been in existence for years but until now has lacked the proper enforcement and ability for the Town, County or State to levy fines.
The Bel Air Cultural Arts Commission is working on an exciting project to install a bronze Bobcat sculpture at Bel Air High School. The sculpture will be located at the entrance to the new athletic fields and be dedicated in honor of Coach Al Cesky. The commission needs to raise $60,000 total and are currently half way there. They need another $30,000 to make this project a reality. A family with deep ties to BAHS has offered to match anyone’s contributions dollar for dollar!! For more information, go to www.BelAirBobcatSculpture.com, or call Susan O’Neill at the Town of Bel Air at 410-638-6705
Oct 12 Roast Beef Dinner Bel Air United Meth church Linwood Ave Bel Air. $10 adults. To benefit the Lightner Library serving from 5 PM to 7 PM All are welcome
Oct 15 OPEN HOUSE Bel Air Vol Fire Company. Main Station on Hickory Ave.
Oct 23 “A Taste of Excellence” to benefit the Harford Friends School. At the Maryland Golf and Country Club. 1:45 to 4:30 PM Honorary Host will be WBAL TV’s Sarah Caldwell. For more information call 410.452.5507 or visit www.harfordfriends.org
NOV 10 11 12 CELEBRATE HARFORD’S VETERANS
NOV 10 – Wine and cheese 5 to 8 PM at the Armory
NOV 11 CELEBRATION at the Reckord Armory on Main Street Bel Air. Parade and Program Nov 11 at 10:00AM. Rededication of the Armory at 2 PM
Nov 12 – Veterans Day at the Liriodendron – Army equipment – Rock Wall for the kids Color Guard and program at 10:20 AM Helicopter ( weather permitting) Native American artifacts with docents to explain local Indian lore. Moving ceremony with the Bel Air Community Chorus, Sons of the American Revolution Musketeers and TAPS . Free Admission. Grounds open at 9:30 AM Parking on the West Broadway lot with Shuttle bus service to the Mansion
noble says
Well, the overpass is open.
And as I predicted, and tried to explain to someone from MTA over a year ago, it’s absolutely perilous to try to drive from Emmorton Rd or Tollgate to the left turn lane for I95 North because of all the crossing traffic from 24 South exiting right to I95 South.
And, as I predicted, myself and probably a lot of others are going to just use Singer instead of the new interchange which will just make Singer the next big traffic problem in the area and kick the problem can down the road, literally.
Awesome. Perhaps some of the changes yet to come will alleviate this, but I am skeptical.
Bel Air Fed says
I came through at 4am – thank goodness no traffic – trying to get on to 95 south after crossing the new overpass not well marked and felt like I had to cut across multiple lanes to get to the ramp. Going to try and leave work early to hopefully miss heavy traffic trying to navigate this place this afternoon. I hope the powers that be will get the intersection done completely soon.
MEL says
Problem is to many folks in this county are afraid to merge. The big boy roads are coming folks either get use to it or move up to Cecil County. By the way the merge Noble spoke of in their post; in NOVA that is a cake walk. Try maneuvering around the mixing bowl in Springfield, VA.
There are no more country roads to take you home in Harford County anymore.
noble says
The problem my friend is that it takes two people to merge. And very few people heading toward Baltimore in the morning have a mind to merge appropriately.
The crossing traffic pattern they’ve set up is over too short a distance at too high a speed to be undertaken safely.
amazed. says
I too have driven in NOVA (where it seems every trail a drunken cow once walked was paved and called a highway) and while there is no overabundance of brotherly love there either, at least they all seem to realize they’re in the same boat. Not like here where all too often when I try to merge, some a-hole will speed up to block my attempt… I guess so they can get there 0.3 seconds before me. Give me the country roads any day.
Patrick McGrady says
Captain Jim,
I think you left off an important date from this calendar:
The Bel Air election on November 8! Bel Air will vote on 3 commissioner seats– learn about the candidates, and be sure to vote!
Harford Voter says
Has the dagger become the arm of the county council? Why are we getting news from the council and then from each councilman? What is next, Bel Air, Aberdeen, and Havre de Grace put their own agenda on the dagger?
Brian Goodman says
It’s a public release by an elected official regarding items of significance to the community. You’re under no obligation to like it, or even read it, but many find it interesting.
Bel Air Fed says
New Route 24 Intersection Nightmare at Night!
Evening traffic was backed up on 95 northbound at the exit – the now one exit for Bel Air and Edgewood – this was at 4pm. This never happened at this time of day before. I hope the powers that be fix this. No improvement in my opinion if this can’t be rectified.
noble says
All of the exits are redesigned, but not yet completed. I would expect that to be a bit messy for a while, but should hopefully improve.
I shook my head though, about 6pm, when I saw nothing but brake lights from I95 almost all the way up to Singer as far as I could on the new 24 overpass. So much for making things better. I am hoping it was because of an incident, and not because all the traffic is now backed up at Singer instead of Emmorton/Tollgate.
If the traffic just backs up in a different place, then what did we spend $40 million for? MAYBE we need a responsible County growth plan and budget that doesn’t rely on property estate and transactions for revenue.
If someone saw some kind of incident, please post.
DW says
I was sitting in that mess yesterday around 6. I was heading north from Edgewood so I don’t know what the exit looked like on 95, but it took me longer to get to Singer Rd than it normally would. Traffic was stop and go from south of the 95 exits all the way to Singer Rd and there were no accidents and no major issues as far as I could tell. There were a lot of people shooting up the side in the 3rd lane over the bridge (which is there for traffic coming off 95N and heading 24N which may contributed to it a little.
Really, it looks like the big traffic back up is simply going to be at Singer Rd instead of Tollgate and 924. If you’re heading south past 95 it’s much much faster, though.
noble says
I am really hoping we are wrong about the backup simply getting relocated. Time will tell.
As far as people using the merge lane you mentioned, I have thought for a few years now that we need to put those flexible poles in the ground wherever a solid white line is on the road. I get tired of people deciding to ignore lane markings and drive wherever they want whenever they want.
Arlene says
For me at least, living in Constant Friendship, the change to the morning traffic mess coming out of our neighborhood has been great! It would sometimes take me 10 minutes just to get onto 24 from Tollgate. The past 2 days there has been no back up leaving the neighborhood! Hopefully the rest will work itself out in time. And yes, people do need to learn how to merge respectfully, use turn signals, and not cut off the person who is trying to merge. We all have somewhere to go.
noble says
After a week, overall I think there’s been an improvement. The problems I saw in the first couple days don’t seem to be a daily concern.
I am still concerned about traffic backing up at Singer.
And the merge to I95 North for Emmorton/Tollgate drivers is pretty unsafe. The people coming down 24 are driving too fast and are only concerned about getting on I95 South before everyone else in the world, and have no care at all for those merging across traffic.
I will have to drive that stretch and see if there are reduced speed and “crossing traffic” signs– at the least– for that merge. If not, I will write to request them.
DW says
I don’t drive through there every day, but a couple days I went north around the same time and didn’t have all the backups that I had the first day. I think part of the problem the first day was that the sign says 924 and 95 in the far right lane and 24 in the left lanes. Nothing was mentioned about Tollgate Rd and a lot of the backed up traffic was trying to turn left onto Singer Rd towards Tollgate Rd.
Granted there is a sign prior to Edgewood Rd that says to use 924 for Tollgate Rd, but it’s off to the side, easy to miss, and if you’re coming off of Edgewood Rd you miss it altogether anyway. I don’t understand why they didn’t just put Tollgate Rd on the same sign with 924 and 95.