Fighting Route 175 proposal

This Month In County History

In June 1981, Route 175 in Columbia's Long Reach village was a two-lane road, and residents wanted to keep it that way.

Representatives of the State Highway Administration came to Jeffers Hill Elementary School to give a presentation of a proposed road-widening between U.S. 29 and Snowden River Parkway, but many residents voiced opposition.

One resident said the divided highway would split Long Reach village and create a social barrier between residents on either side of the road. He also said that the wider roadway would be unsafe for the densely populated area surrounding it and that noise levels would be higher because of increased truck traffic.

Some residents argued that a footbridge should be built across Route 175 if the road was to be widened.

A representative of the Howard Development Research Corp., which planned the Columbia community, voiced his support for the plan, saying the new road would facilitate the safe flow of traffic in Columbia and enhance the city's economic growth.