September 14, 2008|By Nick Madigan
Rural residents of Baltimore County who object to the prospect of wider country roads and bridges are planning to give their views at a public hearing scheduled for tomorrow in Towson.
For months, the residents have opposed county planners' proposals to widen some thoroughfares as a way of handling increased traffic and complying with updated safety standards. Officials say that more than 20 bridges and several roads in the county need widening, while rural preservationists see one-lane bridges and curvy roads as an effective way to slow traffic.
The public hearing will follow a Baltimore County Council meeting at 7 p.m. in its chambers, during which council members are to vote on the sale of the former Yorkway Apartments property in Dundalk, a crime-ridden complex that was purchased by the county and demolished. Council members have amended a sale contract to reflect their insistence that the developer who wants the property be guided by a planned-unit-development process, subject to close oversight.
The council also plans to vote on a resolution that would direct its staff to study how to encourage retailers to replace the plastic bags they provide to shoppers with paper and cloth bags. The plastic bags are considered a pollutant that easily becomes litter and doesn't decompose in landfills.
