NEWS
By Jonathan Pitts | October 25, 2009
The stories are Anne Arundel legend, passed down through generations - hair-raising reminders of life's cruelty that grow grislier with time. There was the panicked teenage mother in the 1820s, the one who threw her crying baby into the Patuxent River, then leaped in to drown herself. There were lynchings by the Klan, the hangings of horse thieves from the girders below, the young family in the 1940s that was swept over the rails by a speeding car, never to be seen alive again. Those brave or crazy enough to visit Governor's Bridge, a rusty, one-lane span on a lonely stretch between Davidsonville and Bowie near the Prince George's County line, still tell of the infant who cries late at night, the sobbing girl who pushes the baby carriage, the sudden drops in temperature.
NEWS
By Michael Dresser | October 1, 2009
The State Highway Administration closed one of the two bridges leading into Ocean City to truck traffic Wednesday afternoon after inspectors found deterioration of one of the girders that supports the structure. Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen said he ordered the emergency restrictions, which will bar vehicles heavier than 6,000 pounds from the Route 90 bridge, after receiving recommendations from staff and consulting engineers. He said the bridge remains safe for passenger vehicle traffic but that anything larger than a pickup truck would be diverted to the U.S. 50 bridge.
NEWS
By Michael Dresser | August 22, 2009
Motorists face a challenging time on the Bay Bridge as overnight closures force two-way operations on a single span for much of next week. On Tuesday night through Friday night, the westbound span will close at 10 p.m. and reopen the next morning. Tonight, it will close at 11 and reopen at 7 a.m. Sunday. That means two-way travel on the two-lane eastbound span - a daunting prospect when everyone on the bridge is awake and sober, and potentially deadly when they're not. Last August, during a night of two-way operations on the eastbound span, a young woman fell asleep while driving on the bridge and set off a chain of events that led to a tractor-trailer plunging off the bridge, killing the truck driver and leaving hundreds of motorists stranded on the bridge for much of that day. Meanwhile, the eastbound span will have closings of its own this Sunday night and Monday morning for repairs to the bridge wall.
NEWS
By Michael Dresser | June 17, 2009
The family of the truck driver who was killed last August when his tractor-trailer crashed through the side of the Bay Bridge filed a $7 million lawsuit Tuesday against the young woman whose vehicle was found to have crossed the center line, setting off the events that led to the fatal plunge. The widow, children and father of trucker John R. Short Sr. allege that Candy Lynn Baldwin, who was 19 at the time of the crash, had been drinking illegally before attempting to drive from Baltimore to the Eastern Shore the morning of Aug. 10. According to the suit filed in Queen Anne's County Circuit Court, the 1997 Chevrolet Camaro driven by Baldwin crossed the center line of the eastbound span, which at the time was in two-way operation.
NEWS
By CANDUS THOMSON | April 12, 2009
Stand anywhere along Maryland's version of the big dig and there can be no doubt the Intercounty Connector is finally a reality after more than a half-century of angst. Huge earth-moving machines gouge red clay from what was once rolling hills and woods. Trucks pour rivers of concrete that will be bridges carrying thousands of vehicles between Montgomery and Prince George's counties. These are the obvious things that announce the coming of the 18.8-mile, $2.5 billion toll road with the official state designation of Route 200, better known as the ICC. However, it's the little stuff that has me walking and riding the route with Mike Baker, the project's environmental engineer.
NEWS
By Michael Dresser | January 12, 2009
For Asa Erickson, the Maryland Transportation Authority's proposal last week to charge a $1.50-a-month fee for an E-ZPass account is reason enough to drop the service. And he believes he's going to have a lot of company. "I'm not going to pay that fee," the 32-year-old northern Baltimore County resident said. "They're going to have a huge number of people dropping their accounts." Perhaps. But Maryland motorists are going to face two trends in the coming years: Toll roads are becoming more common, and toll booths are going extinct.
NEWS
By Gus G. Sentementes | January 1, 2009
High winds across the Baltimore metropolitan region yesterday canceled New Year's Eve fireworks, caused power outages in thousands of homes, flipped a tractor-trailer on a major bridge and toppled branches that hindered the movement of the light rail. The National Weather Service issued a high-wind warning yesterday morning until 10 o'clock last night, cautioning that winds would top 40 mph, with gusts as high as 60 mph. At midnight, instead of fireworks, several confetti guns were fired at the Inner Harbor as Mayor Sheila Dixon and the crowd, bundled up against the cold, counted down to the new year.
NEWS
By ANDREA K. WALKER | October 20, 2008
Ann Wright Burdett, who worked in sales and was an avid bridge player and volunteer, died of lung cancer Wednesday at her home at Oak Crest Village in Parkville. She was 86 and previously lived in Annapolis. Ann Eugenia Adams was born and raised in Baltimore, and graduated as valedictorian from Western High School in 1939. During World War II she worked in a factory, but her outgoing personality led to a career in sales, her family said. She worked as a sales manager at World Book Encyclopedia and was later in sales at Monumental Life Insurance.
NEWS
September 28, 2008
On Sept. 23, 1908, a portion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge span between Garrett Island and the Cecil shore collapsed just as the last of a freight train of loaded coal cars passed over. One span of 377 feet across the Susquehanna River at Havre de Grace and all the falsework supporting the bridge structure fell into the deep water. Twelve coal cars at the end of the train dropped into the river, but the locomotive had successfully crossed and remained intact. Only one person was injured.
NEWS
September 28, 2008
Central Park at sea : Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has announced that an area resembling New York's Central Park will be featured in the center of its Oasis of the Seas ship when it is delivered in late 2009 as the world's largest cruise vessel. Spanning the length of a football field, Central Park will include lush foliage, quiet walkways, restaurants, boutiques, an art gallery and a moving bar, the world's No. 2 cruise operator said. The area also will feature concerts and street performances, providing the feeling of an outdoor space on a 225,000-gross ton cruise ship that will carry 5,400 passengers and sail from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Central Park will be lined with 254 balcony staterooms and feature five eateries and two bars.