Bridge

Howard County is looking at a too-expensive, overbuilt transit bus bridge over U.S. 29 between Oakland Mills and Columbia Town Center ("In Columbia, bridge is sought to unify towns," April 24). A too-occasional bus won't help the main problem - pedestrians who feel unsafe trapped on the bridge. The U.S. 29 bridge, if not already adequate, should be built to carry an electric minibus on one alternating direction lane between Town Center and Oakland Mills' village center, schools, and library, tying-in with existing transit stops and schedules.

A water rescue of four people from a boat offshore from Hawkins Point in Baltimore late Sunday night resulted in three people being taken to area hospitals, two of them in critical condition, the United States Coast Guard said Monday. The rescue occurred near the south end of the Key Bridge after a local fisherman called the Coast Guard about 9:45 p.m. to report a 40-foot recreational boat had crashed into concrete pilings in the water, said Petty Officer 1st Class Nathan Henise.

Last weekend a few hundred Americans of different faiths and races, shivering in the wintry night air, assembled at Baltimore's Holocaust Memorial to protest the appearance of anti-Semites in a city public school. Only 50 years ago, an advanced, civilized nation exterminated one third of the world's Jews. How could this be happening?The microphones appeared defective, silencing some of the speakers' words. ''Build bridges,'' the crowd was told but to whom? A safe, sturdy bridge requires support at both ends.

State transportation officials hope you'll do a lot of sightseeing this Memorial Day weekend. Just not on the Bay Bridge. Travelers headed to the Eastern Shore for the first time since last summer might be surprised. For one thing, the toll has risen to $4 from $2.50. For another, the westbound span is being painted for the first time since it opened in 1973, and scaffolding is likely to be a distraction — and potential hot spot for fender-benders. "You're sightseeing. They're sightseeing.

Does any band do earnest and lovelorn as well as Baltimore's Future Islands? The band continues to make its case with their new 7", Before the Bridge (out next Tuesday, July 19 on Thrill Jockey). The title track comes with a beautifully shot video (a Future Islands trademark). The trio has yet to receive the national notoriety in the vein of Beach House and Wye Oak, and that's probably OK with them . But as a fan who knows the beauty -- and potential -- the group possesses, I hope that changes soon.

A crash on the eastbound William Preston Lane Memorial Bridge blocked traffic this morning, WBAL radio reports,. A Medevac helicopter landed to facilitate a hospital trip, the station reported. The bridge is now open.

The Trenton Road bridge over Piney Run in Upperco will be closed for two weeks starting Aug. 8, said Baltimore County engineers. The 34-foot long bridge will get an improved guard rail and stone wing walls. Dimensions of the bridge, last repaired 20 years ago, will not be altered. Traffic will be detoured to Dover Road, Mount Zion Road and Black Rock Road. Emergency vehicles will be able to cross the bridge, which is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 19.

The Route 90 bridge to Ocean City, closed since mid-October for emergency repairs, will reopen about 10 a.m. today - just in time for Thanksgiving, the State Highway Administration has announced. The bridge, one of two connecting the mainland with the ocean resort, had been expected to remain closed through mid-December. The 38-year-old bridge over Assawoman Bay in Worcester County was closed after inspectors discovered deterioration in a girder on an 85-foot section of the span. While the bridge was being repaired, the U.S. 50 bridge was the only one serving the barrier island.

The bridge over Little Falls on Hicks-Wilson Road on the Monkton-White Hall line will be closed on Jan. 30 so crews can repair damage caused by Tropical Storm Lee last September. Baltimore County crews will repair deteriorated abutments that were further damaged by Lee's floodwaters. The 60-foot single-lane bridge was built in 1988. Repairs should be finished by the end of February, county engineers said.

About a half a mile from me, an independent school is building a bridge across a busy street in order to connect the upper school on one side to the middle and lower schools on the other. The purpose of the bridge, of course, is to keep the students out of the street and prevent them from being hit by cars. The neighborhood will probably become accustomed to this ugly intrusion in what is still a pleasant residential setting; after all, the safety of children and adolescents is more important than aesthetics.

An Anne Arundel County parent whose gentle spirit is said to have built bridges between cultures at her sons' elementary school was named the Maryland Parent Involvement Matters Award winner Friday night. Ambareen Jafri, a 35-year-old Crofton mother of three boys, began her volunteer work four years ago when a Nantucket Elementary School teacher put out a request for someone who spoke Urdu to be a translator for Indian and Pakistani families. "Sometimes, you just [say], 'OK, this is my opportunity to help the community.

A grass-roots idea to bridge the gaps among racially divided neighborhoods has blossomed into an annual block party in West Baltimore that drew hundreds Saturday to a triangular park in Upton. At the fifth annual Boundary Block Party, sponsored by a coalition of five of the city's central-western neighborhoods, children frolicked near a fountain, a wooden platform served as a stage for local musicians and choirs, and dozens of people lined up for free hot dogs and potato salad.

As taken from the pages of The Aegis dated Thursday, May 3, 1962: Construction finally got underway on the Harford County side of the Susquehanna River on the Northeastern Expressway bridge across the river north of Havre de Grace. Gov. J. Millard Tawes was on hand for a ceremony at the river's edge where a 3,000 pound piling was lowered into the water symbolizing the start of work on the 42 mile section of expressway. The bridge was expected to take 18 months to complete and the entire expressway, now known as I-95, was slated to open in the fall of 1963.

The first of the travel season's "go early, go late" advisories for the Bay Bridge is in effect this weekend as thousands of visitors head for Springfest 2012 in Ocean City . The Maryland Transportation Authority said motorists should avoid high traffic volume Thursday through Sunday by traveling to the annual spring block party during off-peak hours. If eastbound traffic conditions warrant it, the westbound span will operate with two-way traffic. The best times to travel this weekend are: Thursday before 2 p.m. and after 10 p.m.; Friday before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m.; Saturday before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m.; Sunday before 11 a.m. and after 10 p.m. Officials note that full westbound bridge closures, with two-way traffic on the eastbound span, are scheduled during overnight hours Thursday, Friday and Saturday to accommodate maintenance work.

Next week, drivers should avoid East Ordnance Road (Route 710) between the Arundel Expressway (Route 10) and Pennington Avenue (Route 173), according to the State Highway Administration. Beginning Monday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., one lane will be closed on that section of Ordnance Road while a left-turn lane is installed. The closure is expected to continue until May 4. Traffic is expected to be heavy on Ordnance Road because it is being used as a detour while the Maryland Transportation Authority repairs the Interstate 695 drawbridge over Curtis Creek.

Howard County is looking at a too-expensive, overbuilt transit bus bridge over U.S. 29 between Oakland Mills and Columbia Town Center ("In Columbia, bridge is sought to unify towns," April 24). A too-occasional bus won't help the main problem - pedestrians who feel unsafe trapped on the bridge. The U.S. 29 bridge, if not already adequate, should be built to carry an electric minibus on one alternating direction lane between Town Center and Oakland Mills' village center, schools, and library, tying-in with existing transit stops and schedules.

ONE OF Maryland's most ordinary yet sublime pleasures is slowly being taken away. It's that brief but sensual moment of release that comes about a third of the way over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Annapolis to the Eastern Shore. Past the toll booths, at the end of a long, uphill climb, the bridge curves left, levels out and suddenly the huge expanse of the bay and shore beyond comes into view. Hit that point on Memorial Day weekend, and summer officially begins. State transportation officials fear bridge drivers are enjoying that moment a bit too much.

The narrow footbridge that crosses U.S. 29 in Columbia opened three decades ago with the promise of connecting the town's commercial center with the residential communities to the east. Today, the underused structure is unlit, encircled in chain-link fence and often covered in graffiti - uninviting to residents looking for a convenient way to cross the five-lane expressway that divides a town planned by renowned developer James W. Rouse, who sought to emphasize connections between its communities.

Coming into spring football practice, Navy's Noah Copeland and Travis Bridges were relatively unknown commodities. Copeland, a sophomore fullback, had played exclusively on special teams during his first season at the academy. Bridges, a junior noseguard, had spent his first two seasons in Annapolis trying unsuccessfully to make his way up the depth chart on an experienced and talented offensive line. After three weeks of practice and Saturday's spring game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Copeland and Bridges are among the bright spots for a team looking to reverse course after last season's disappointing 5-7 record, the first losing mark for the Midshipmen in nine years.