A state-sponsored study of Route 32 in western Howard County is reviving Carroll's hopes for widening the highway all the way to Eldersburg.
"I am glad to hear they are talking about it and putting it back in the forefront," said Commissioner Donald I. Dell.
A panel of real estate and land-use experts and state highway officials are looking into widening from two to four lanes the much-traveled road from Route 108 in Clarksville to Interstate 70, about six miles from Carroll's southern end. The highway is four lanes through the rest of Howard.
About 25,000 vehicles a day use Route 32 in Howard County, many of them traveling to and from Carroll, according to state highway officials.
Carroll officials are optimistic that if Route 32 is widened in Howard County, the state would agree to extend the project into Carroll.
That number is expected to double within 20 years. Population in the four counties nearest the Route 32 corridor - Carroll, Frederick, Howard and Montgomery - will increase by about 184,000 people by 2020, state planners predict.
The Route 32 panel has three choices: Do nothing, widen the highway to four lanes, or add interchanges to the existing two lanes. The group will then try to predict what land-use changes would occur with each option. The report is due in February.
"Route 32 is the best opportunity for economic development in Carroll County," said Matthew Candland, Sykesville town manager, who reported on the initial meeting to the Town Council. "The question is, would we encourage more residential development? The more you improve roads, the further out people seem to go."
Carroll's planning director, Steven C. Horn, is not on the panel, but is acting as an adviser. "My role will be to look out for Carroll County's interests. This is an opportunity for us to show support for the ex- tension of a four-lane segment north into Carroll to Route 26," Horn said.
In a meeting last week with the Sykesville Town Council, officials urged Horn to push hard for a four-lane highway.
"We are very interested in the project and very supportive of extending the Route 32 widening to Eldersburg," Horn said.
Except for a brief stretch of Interstate 70 near Mount Airy, Carroll has no interstate highways and has long envisioned a four-lane Route 32 as a way to attract industry to the county.
