In a sweeping proposal aimed at ridding streets of illegally parked cars during rush hour, the O'Malley administration is creating new tow-away zones on more than 40 commuter routes across Baltimore.
Over the next seven months, tow-away signs will appear along 90 additional miles of streets - a 257 percent increase from the 35 miles where motorists are warned they may be towed.
To help with enforcement, the city will deploy 16 privately owned tow trucks to complement its four.
Officials hope the crackdown will ease traffic bottlenecks, thereby discouraging commuters from taking shortcuts through neighborhoods. And though they stress that the point is not to fatten city coffers, the program is expected to net $800,000 in its first year.
"We're not in it for the money," said Mayor Martin O'Malley. "We're in it to make a more livable city, one where you can actually leave for work and arrive on time."
The first street to be added is a stretch of Harford Road, which is on O'Malley's route to City Hall. (City officials call it a coincidence, though the mayor quipped, "Maybe they are trying to impress me.")
The Department of Public Works is using an administrative order to expand tow-away zones, but City Council approval is required within six months. O'Malley's staff has briefed the council on the changes and expects solid support.
On some streets, the new restrictions will apply to just a few blocks. On others, several miles will be fair game for tow trucks - for instance, on Greenmount Avenue from North Avenue until it becomes York Road, and on York north to the Baltimore County line.
Presently, parking or stopping is prohibited in the new tow-away zones during rush hour, generally from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. But the $20 tickets meted out for no-stopping violations have not succeeded in clearing streets for the morning and evening commutes.
City officials hope a new triple-whammy - a $32 fine, a minimum $125 towing charge and the hassle that goes with being towed - will hit home. Officials expect the city's revenue to "decrease very rapidly" after the first year, said Department of Public Works spokesman Kurt L. Kocher.
O'Malley said he knows what a single illegally parked car can do to the flow of traffic.
"I've come down sometimes in the morning and called in a car parked on the road," he recalled. "Meanwhile, everyone on their way that morning was delayed by someone who inconsiderately left their car in a major corridor."
