Bypass

MANCHESTER has a traffic congestion problem. Main Street can back up for a mile during rush hour. Left-turning vehicles block the roadway, as do parked cars along the sides. Downtown intersections rate as "failing." It's way past time to address this daily flow of 18,000 vehicles through the town of 3,200 residents.If the 30-year-old plan for a bypass -- cost: $70 million -- is dead, then Manchester, county and state officials should move swiftly to choose other remedies.A half-dozen options proposed by the Maryland Department of Transportation are a good place to begin.

THERE'S little surprise in Gov. Parris N. Glendening's decision to veto long-planned bypass projects for Westminster and Manchester.The governor wants to take a stand against state projects that violate Smart Growth rules enacted in 1997. A bypass, by definition, lies outside the established municipal core that is the target of Smart Growth.The bypass decision is reversible. It may be no more than a delay, awaiting a new governor or action by the legislature or the Board of Public Works. Perhaps a legal challenge.

FEELINGS have been bruised, civic pride wounded, but that's no reason to stop working to ease traffic jams on Route 30 as it cuts through Manchester and Hampstead.The governor supports a $35 million bypass of the state highway for Hampstead, but a $70 million bypass for Manchester is unacceptable because it would promote development sprawl. A couple of miffed Manchester council members propose a dog-in-the-manger approach: try to kill Hampstead's bypass out of spite. The Carroll County commissioners, meanwhile, grumble about Annapolis politics.

For the second time in as many days, Gov. Parris N. Glendening has dealt a blow to plans for major Carroll County projects -- this time, multimillion-dollar bypasses for Westminster and Manchester -- that local officials view as vital to economic development.Plans for the bypasses were deleted from the Maryland Department of Transportation's budget after state planning officials determined that they conflicted with the governor's Smart Growth initiative, a plan that aims to protect rural areas and stop suburban sprawl.

For the second time in as many days, Gov. Parris N. Glendening has dealt a blow to plans for major Carroll County projects -- this time, multimillion-dollar bypasses for Westminster and Manchester -- that local officials view as vital to economic development.Plans for the bypasses were deleted from the Maryland Department of Transportation's budget after state planning officials determined that they conflicted with the governor's Smart Growth initiative, a plan that aims to protect rural areas and stop suburban sprawl.

After taking state officials to task for scrapping the Westminster and Manchester bypasses, Carroll officials agreed yesterday to study alternatives to the long-planned highway projects.Del. Joseph M. Getty, a Manchester Republican, questioned State Highway Administrator Parker F. Williams and John W. Frece, assistant to the governor for Smart Growth, about whether the Smart Growth criteria on bypasses adequately consider quality of life in the towns."This decision [to scrap the bypass projects]

Local planners are discussing ways to alleviate traffic on Route 140 after Gov. Parris N. Glendening barred funding for a proposed Westminster bypass, saying it doesn't fit into his efforts to curb sprawl.Possibilities under consideration include improvements to Route 140 to relieve congestion; building the $200 million bypass with funds from the county, city and developers; and keeping pressure on the state to reverse its decision and build the bypass.County planners, working with city officials, are developing a comprehensive plan to guide growth for the "Westminster environ" -- land surrounding, but not including, the city.

Carroll County is grateful for state aid and proposals to improve traffic flow along Main Street in Manchester, but local officials still see a bypass as the long-term solution to ease congestion.In a letter to Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the county commissioners say they support proposed improvements of the town's Main Street and ask for timely implementation. But they also "implore" the governor to reconsider his decision to scrap the bypass -- a road Glendening has repeatedly refused to fund.

The message to state highway officials was clear: Manchester residents rejected their short-term solutions for traffic congestion along Route 30, the town's Main Street. They want a bypass.State highway officials received an earful from more than 150 residents and business owners at a public informational meeting at Manchester Elementary School on Monday.Before the two-hour meeting, Manchester Mayor Chris D'Amario favored some of the proposed $7 million solutions. He won't support them now.State funding for the $70 million bypass was killed in January when Gov. Parris N. Glendening decided that a four-lane Manchester bypass would violate the state's Smart Growth initiative and encourage suburban sprawl.

Maryland Transportation Secretary David L. Winstead and his subordinates took it on the chin from local officials and county residents yesterday -- not for what they've done, but for what they haven't done to improve roads in Carroll County.County officials have sought bypasses around Hampstead, Manchester and Westminster for years but have only engineering designs and alignment drawings to show for their efforts.They were not hesitant yesterday to share their frustration with Winstead and other state officials at the secretary's annual meeting with Carroll officials to discuss county projects.

Rob Gonzalez seldom gets caught in the gridlock that snarls Route 30 in Hampstead each weekday morning - neither would you if you got to work at 3:30 a.m. But rush hour is another matter. "It can take 20 minutes to go three miles; you literally have to plan for that," said Gonzalez, owner of Snickerdoodles, a bakery-cafe on Route 30. During rush hour, he and other local residents all but avoid the road frequented by ex-Marylanders who now live as far as 15 miles to the north in Hanover, Pa., but still work and do business here.

THE ISSUE: Noting an expected surge in traffic in coming years, a panel has recommended the revival of a proposed bypass around Westminster, a $500 million project scrapped seven years ago by Gov. Parris N. Glendening as contrary to his Smart Growth anti-sprawl campaign. The panel, appointed by the Carroll County commissioners, unveiled the plan for an eight-mile road north of Route 140 in a report that includes details of a four-lane divided highway that would run from Leidy Road to Hughes Shop Road in the county seat.

A Westminster man wants the Carroll County Circuit Court to prevent the commissioners from tying up his 100-acre property again with renewed talk of a Westminster bypass, a battle he won less than four years ago. James Edward Harris Sr. of the 1100 block of Brehm Road filed suit against the three commissioners after a recommendation last week by a blue-ribbon panel that the bypass be revived. Citing increasing traffic, the panel asked county officials to push the state again for an 8-mile bypass north of Route 140, recommending essentially the same route as one planned about 15 years ago. In the lawsuit filed this week by JFJME Family LLC, Harris, as its managing member, said he plans to develop some of the property, where he has a landscape contracting business.

Citing an expected surge in traffic in coming years, a blue-ribbon panel has recommended the revival of a proposed bypass around Westminster, a $500 million project scrapped seven years ago by Gov. Parris N. Glendening as part of his Smart Growth anti-sprawl campaign. The panel, appointed by the Carroll County Commission, unveiled the plan for an 8-mile road north of Route 140 yesterday in an eight-page report that includes a map and details of a four-lane divided highway that would run from Leidy Road to Hughes Shop Road in the county seat.

This week's topic: A blue ribbon panel was appointed by the Carroll County commissioners to decide whether a Route 140 bypass is justified and to consider alternatives and costs. The 13-member panel is expected to recommend that the state and county move forward with plans for an alternative to Route 140 through the county seat. Do you think that a bypass around Route 140 in Westminster should be built? Don't build a bypass; extend I-795 instead As an analyst I learned first to define the problem.

ISSUE: A blue-ribbon panel was appointed by the Carroll County commissioners to decide whether a Route 140 bypass is justified and to consider alternatives and costs. The 13-member panel is expected to recommend that the state and county move forward with plans for an alternative to Route 140 through the county seat. Do you think that a bypass around Route 140 in Westminster should be built? YOUR VIEW: Tell us what you think. Please send e-mail responses by Thursday to carroll.letters@baltsun.

State Highway Administration officials outlined a range of possibilities last night for Route 140 - Carroll County's congested major artery through the Westminster area - from doing nothing to creating a system of interchanges and service roads that would cost up to $230 million and displace about 30 homes and businesses. The ideas were presented at a meeting of a blue-ribbon panel appointed by the county commissioners to recommend the best plan for the 2 1/2 -mile stretch along the outskirts of the city from Sullivan Road to Market Street, where new stores recently have opened.

A blue-ribbon panel will decide whether Westminster needs a $250 million bypass that would give motorists an alternative to Route 140. The Carroll County commissioners voted yesterday to create a 13-member committee of state, county and city officials, business leaders, planners and residents. The advisory committee also would recommend a route, consider tolls to help pay for the project and research the impact on businesses and residents. "They are charged with answering questions on the need for a bypass, where it would be and what it would look like," said Steven C. Horn, county director of planning.

A traffic jam, caused by a serious accident on Route 140 outside Westminster, made state officials late Friday for their annual transportation tour to Carroll County. The delay demonstrated the need for the $200 million in road improvements the state has pledged to the county over the next six years, officials said. "We need to get these projects in the pipeline," said Robert L. Flanagan, state secretary of transportation. "Congestion robs people of time, wears on their vehicles, increases gas consumption and causes safety problems, like the sobering accident we saw on the way here."

More than five years after the state scrapped it, the Carroll County commissioners are trying to revive the Westminster Bypass. The commissioners voted yesterday to appoint a blue-ribbon panel that would either make recommendations for building the proposed route around the county seat or put the idea to rest. "We need to take another look, before we close the book," said Commissioner Dean L. Minnich. "We must ask the questions that have not been answered and see if there is a consensus to go forward."