Baltimore County Development News

[rockin'.baltimorean]

well, maryland's trying to get a piece of the pie by asking the obama administration for not millions, but billions of dollars for instructure, so this could indeed become a reality. and we just may get it too, so stay tuned!

[StevenW]

I think around $100 Billion would about do it!

[seanlax5]

Would you pay higher taxes for $100 billion in your state? Trick question. I want to know from all you folks that watch the new developments around, is it slower whit the economy, or still chugging along the same? Just wondering.

[rockin'.baltimorean]

Originally Posted by StevenW

I think around $100 Billion would about do it!

while we're feelin' lucky, why don't we go ahead & ask for a cool trillion? lol.

[sdeclue]

Originally Posted by NorthaBmore

Wow, I didn't know about that component of the project. That's great news though, the traffic on I-95 is horrible! They should add express lanes between baltimore and DC too, that would be a dream come true.

I'm really surprised that transportation has become such a back burner. More mass transit is needed, and there are a number of road projects needed as well.

I'm wondering when the Beltway will be widened around the Towson area around to I-95 and then also around the Catonsville area near Route 40 and the whole disaster that is the three flyover ramps for I-70. Fixing those areas would cure a lot of the beltway traffic.

I'm also interested in when I-95 from Baltimore to Washington will be expanded. I know down near DC it looks like the road might become 10 lanes wide in some areas.

I also am curious as to whether 29 and, 32, 100, 175 and 295 will be expanded anytime soon as well. Areas of many of those roads are in desperate need of widening.

[scando]

Originally Posted by sdeclue

I'm really surprised that transportation has become such a back burner. More mass transit is needed, and there are a number of road projects needed as well.

I'm wondering when the Beltway will be widened around the Towson area around to I-95 and then also around the Catonsville area near Route 40 and the whole disaster that is the three flyover ramps for I-70. Fixing those areas would cure a lot of the beltway traffic.

I'm also interested in when I-95 from Baltimore to Washington will be expanded. I know down near DC it looks like the road might become 10 lanes wide in some areas.

I also am curious as to whether 29 and, 32, 100, 175 and 295 will be expanded anytime soon as well. Areas of many of those roads are in desperate need of widening.

It's on the back burner because of the State's finances. Big capital projects are paid for by the Transportation Trust Fund. For about 6 years prior to the current "events", the fund was obviously not growing enough to pay for what's needed but no Governor wants to be the one that raises taxes to add money to the fund (gas taxes, titling fees, etc). 5 years ago the fund was projected to be 20 billion short over the following 10 years, but now, in the current crash situation, it has gotten even worse. The beltways, in Baltimore and DC are approaching their limit. At some point, the capacity of the highway exceeds the capacity of the on and off ramps and feeder roads, backups occur from ramps onto the highway, and that's the end of the usefulness of lane expansion for that highway. When you get to that point, we need to find better ways to move people rather than adding more lanes.

[NorthaBmore]

A lot of Obama's infastructure money-if we get it- should be put towards public transportation.

[dtzeigler]

Originally Posted by sdeclue

I'd like to see a similar project at 95 and 695 on the south part of the city. Traffic on 95 gets backed up really far just because the left lane is jammed for all of the people trying to get from 95 to 695 W.

I'd also like to see some development around this new project for the beltway and 95 up north. It seems from those aerial shots that there is no development there whatsoever. If we are going to invest so much money in such a project, there needs to be development there too.

One final thing: there was a meeting last week about the potential new town center in Catonsville. Locals are worried it will ruin the small-town atmosphere.

I tink traffic is actually worse on the southern interchange of 95 & 695. The northern part by white marsh does back up but not like it does at the southern interchange.

[mike81]

Any money received for transportation should be used for upkeep of the current beltway (and expanded to 4 lanes in some places), but most of the money should be used to expand mass transit METRO RAIL lines. The beltway isn't growing past 4 lanes. Even if it would help, there is no more room to expand it! Getting people walking also promotes economic development along walking routes.

[scando]

Originally Posted by mike81

Any money received for transportation should be used for upkeep of the current beltway (and expanded to 4 lanes in some places), but most of the money should be used to expand mass transit METRO RAIL lines. The beltway isn't growing past 4 lanes. Even if it would help, there is no more room to expand it! Getting people walking also promotes economic development along walking routes.

You're right about the beltway. The walls that have been installed in some places are a not-so-subtle reminder that that's as big as the road is going to get. I think there's one minor expansion round left and that will mainly be on and off ramps. Since there's no current plans for a successor to 695, it will be decades before anything can happen that might replace it and by then hopefully there will be seriously different modes of transportation available.

[Maudibjr]

Originally Posted by scando

You're right about the beltway. The walls that have been installed in some places are a not-so-subtle reminder that that's as big as the road is going to get. I think there's one minor expansion round left and that will mainly be on and off ramps. Since there's no current plans for a successor to 695, it will be decades before anything can happen that might replace it and by then hopefully there will be seriously different modes of transportation available.

In general, they put those sound walls right on the property line, so that is as big as it gets. So unless they double stack it, (its happened elsewhere such as Houston, but I truely doubt it for here) thats it.

I really think that Baltimore could be poised for a mass transit explosion. Obama wants to vastly increase infrastructure spending. Both our senators and the speaker of the House are all from Baltimore, I want to see some Big Dig style mega pork (without the shoddy construction, of course) transit for Baltimore.

[scando]

Originally Posted by NorthaBmore

A lot of Obama's infastructure money-if we get it- should be put towards public transportation.

It will be interesting to see how they parse it out. If there is somewhere near 300 billion, will it be proportional to the population of the States? How about counties and cities? If it's spread out evenly, it could be a significant boost to transit, but the money will also probably be spread around other parts of the state and fund things other than transportation so who knows.

[oneworld25]

Originally Posted by sdeclue

I'm really surprised that transportation has become such a back burner. More mass transit is needed, and there are a number of road projects needed as well.

I'm wondering when the Beltway will be widened around the Towson area around to I-95 and then also around the Catonsville area near Route 40 and the whole disaster that is the three flyover ramps for I-70. Fixing those areas would cure a lot of the beltway traffic.

I'm also interested in when I-95 from Baltimore to Washington will be expanded. I know down near DC it looks like the road might become 10 lanes wide in some areas.

I also am curious as to whether 29 and, 32, 100, 175 and 295 will be expanded anytime soon as well. Areas of many of those roads are in desperate need of widening.

IMO the last thing Maryland needs to do is add lanes on to highways. Thanks to a phenomenon known as induced traffic adding more lanes onto a highway actually increases traffic. It also accelerates environmentally unsustainable suburban sprawl.

[StevenW]

Agreed! Let's get rid of all the highways! That way there won't be any sprawl.

[rockin'.baltimorean]

[oneworld25]

I never called for getting rid of all the highways. But the reality is that we cannot keep adding lanes onto highways endlessly. It's just not sustainable.

[rockin'.baltimorean]

Originally Posted by dtzeigler

I tink traffic is actually worse on the southern interchange of 95 & 695. The northern part by white marsh does back up but not like it does at the southern interchange.

yep, i agree with ya'. perhaps 395 coming into the city should be widened. but i think when it's all said & done, that part of the city is going to see new bridges anyway because of the gateway south, westport, slots project by m&t, and future developments that could possibly go on in middle branch (another megastack, maybe).

[StevenW]

Originally Posted by oneworld25

I never called for getting rid of all the highways. But the reality is that we cannot keep adding lanes onto highways endlessly. It's just not sustainable.

Yeah, I know. I was just kidding about that.

[scando]

Originally Posted by oneworld25

I never called for getting rid of all the highways. But the reality is that we cannot keep adding lanes onto highways endlessly. It's just not sustainable.

Highways have a finite capacity, regardless of how many lanes you add. It's limited by the capacity of the on and off ramps and the roads that feed those. Once the off-ramps back up onto the highway due to congestion on the feeder road and the on-ramps back up onto the feeder road, that's the end until you improve every feeder road. Highway engineers can come up with calculations on this.

[Maudibjr]

There is a tower crane up for the new hotel on Pepper rd in Hunt valley.

Its only a 3 story structure before anyone gets excited.