August 06, 2000|BY A SUN STAFF WRITER
A $348,000 renovation project to improve the Odenton MARC station for residents and the surrounding properties for future businesses is set to be launched this week with a groundbreaking scheduled by Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens.
The ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday on the west side of the railroad tracks.
County Councilman Bill D. Burlison, a representative from the Maryland Mass Transit Administration and community leaders are expected to attend, Judy Pederson, the county executive's director of communications, said last week.
County officials hope the renovation project will promote development around the station and the nearby 1,600-acre Odenton Town Center Growth Management Area, a commercial core to the community, said John A. Morris, planning and zoning spokesman.
Cossentino Construction has received a $210,000 contract to build new sidewalks and landscape along Morgan and Odenton roads to make the station more attractive and accessible to the 5,000 families in the Odenton area.
The county's Department of Public Works plans to bury overhead telephone lines and extend sewer service to Epiphany Episcopal Church and 11 other properties along Odenton Road, Morris said.
The state transit administration is funding the majority of the renovation project through a $300,000 Smart Growth grant.
The project is part of series of improvements to the MARC station and surrounding undeveloped commercial area, which lies across from Route 175.
Within the past two years, the county has widened Piney Orchard Parkway east of the tracks and acquired a potential site for a regional library.
The county also plans to build a sidewalk along Odenton Road from the station, past the shopping center, to Sappington Corner residential development.
