Highway

Baltimore's demolition of the western end of the infamous "Highway to Nowhere" is a major step forward for the surrounding communities, but also marks the demise of a cautionary relic of Baltimore history ("The 'Highway to Nowhere' is now headed for the dump," Sept. 11). The road is an eerie and tragic sight to behold. Standing at the expressway's end is like glimpsing into a version of the future that never arrived. Six lanes that abruptly halt in mid-air, complete with exit signs and streetlights hanging above roadways that have never carried traffic.

The State Highway Administration has begun a $1 million resurfacing project along a mile stretch of York Road between Towsontown Boulevard and Stevenson Lane in Towson, which officials said is designed to improve safety and traffic flow. Crews are upgrading sections of curb, gutter, sidewalk and ramps to meet current Americans with Disabilities Act standards. The project also includes cleaning and repairing inlets and drainage pipes; and installing underground and overhead traffic detectors at intersections where needed.

Maryland's highway chief says the speed cameras deployed in work zones around the state aren't generating enough fines to cover their operating costs. And he couldn't be more delighted. "It is worth our having to come up with additional money to cover the costs," State Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen said Wednesday at a news conference to promote safe driving in work zones. Since the camera program began last fall, Pedersen said, his employees and contractors have noticed a decrease in the number of vehicles going more than 10 mph over the speed limit in work zones.

A pedestrian struck Sunday night while walking on Route 100 near Route 97 in Glen Burnie has died at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Dwayne Rauchhaus, 31, whose last known address was the 300 block of William Way in Stevensville, died at 10:45 a.m. Monday as a result of his injuries, police said. Witnesses had told police they had seen a man walking in the travel lane of the highway and darting in and out of traffic shortly before midnight. He was hit by a 2010 Hyundai Elantra, driven by a 16-year-old girl, police said.

Gina Teresa Griffin, 51, was killed while riding a scooter on Interstate 95 late Thursday night, Maryland State Police said Saturday. Few details are available about the incident and the investigation continues, said Sgt. Jeff Kirschner, a State Police spokesman. According to police, a Honda Accord and a scooter with two riders were involved in a crash at 11:53 p.m. on the southbound side of the highway near the Baltimore Beltway interchange. The second person on the scooter, Victor Angelo Huntley, 47, is in critical but stable condition at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

NEW YORK - Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw and his wife escaped injury in a three-car accident on a New York City highway that killed one woman and injured a mail truck driver Friday. The accident happened about 1 p.m. as Brokaw was driving in the left lane of the northbound Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx. The Brokaws said they noticed a spool of cable bouncing in the far right lane, which caused the driver of the green SUV to lose control as she tried to avoid it. The Brokaws said the SUV slid into the middle lane, forcing a mail truck into the couple's lane.

Wanda lifts a swollen hand to her face, scratches her nose and tells the eternal lie about quitting the heroin habit.Her eyelids are at half-mast, and her voice is the low grumble of the junkie as she talks about life on the street in the white glow of the Marylander Motel sign on Pulaski Highway."

A female pedestrian was killed last night after she was struck by a truck while attempting to cross Pulaski Highway in White Marsh, Baltimore County police reported. The victim - whose name was not immediately released - was struck about 10 p.m. in the 11000 block of Pulaski near the Williamsburg Inn. She was pronounced dead at Franklin Square Hospital Center, police said.

It's hard to believe today but when Ritchie Highway was constructed some 60 years ago, only one blinking "control light" slowed a motorist traveling from Glen Burnie to the Severn River. One of the first stretches of that Depression-era dual-lane highway was constructed in Brooklyn Park, which was also the location of some of the area's earliest strip shopping centers. Even today, Brooklyn Park's stretch of Ritchie retains a 1950s time-capsule atmosphere.Perhaps not much longer, though.The north wing of the fortysomething Ritchie Highway Shopping Center got a much-needed make-over a year ago, giving it an inviting, modern appearance.

In a lengthy article in last Sunday's Sun, staff writer Joe Nawrozki described the descent of Pulaski Highway, particularly around the Baltimore city-county line. In a scene resembling "a Third World country," one police official said, 80 to 100 prostitutes work a five-mile stretch of the road that's chock-a-block with no-tell motels. The hookers rounded up on Pulaski by police in recent months have included a grandmother, a mother-daughter team and a woman who was seven months pregnant; the johns have included locals, long-distance travelers and even a minister who told police he was just trying to spread the word of the Lord.

A public meeting will be held to discuss a petition to modify the western portion of Church Lane in White Hall from a dirt road to a tar and chip surface. The meeting, sponsored by the Harford County Department of Public Works, Division of Highways and Water Resources, will be on May 16 at 6 p.m. in the offices of the Department of Public Works on the third floor of 212 S. Bond St. in Bel Air. To request disability-related accommodations, contact Shirley DeVaughn at 410-638-3548 (TTY users call Maryland Relay)

Howard County fire fighters put out a one-alarm fire that was reported early Wednesday morning inside a state-owned vehicle repair shop in Dayton. According to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services, crews responded to an alarm around 3 a.m. in the 4400 block of Route 32 and found a vehicle on fire inside the repair shop, causing heavy smoke. The six-bay garage is owned and operated by the State Highway Administration. The fire was extinguished within half an hour, causing little damage to the building and no reported injuries, according to the fire department.

A Monday morning accident near 28th Street on the southbound Jones Falls Expressway and a stalled vehicle near the Northern Parkway exit meant traffic was narrowed to a single lane for one lengthy stretch of the popular route to downtown. The two incidents worsened a commute city transportation officials had already warned would be difficult because of planned lane closures. Emergency crews cleared the accident within an hour and a tow truck quickly removed the car, city transportation spokeswoman Adrienne Barnes said.

Pete Landon knows only too well what happens when a motorist isn't paying attention in a highway work zone. So does the college student who was tailgating him while texting. The two vehicles had a near-miss Tuesday morning on the Beltway near Liberty Road, said Landon, who watched the scene in his rearview mirror — and who stopped the other driver and gave her a warning. "We were both lucky. If she had hit me, I probably would have hit the car in front of me," said Landon, a State Police lieutenant colonel on his way to a news conference about highway safety.

As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, traffic was slow on Pulaski Highway and Rossville Boulevard, due to an accident. Accidents were slowing traffic at North Point Road and Quad Avenue in Dundalk, Cross Country Boulevard and Greenspring Avenue in Baltimore County, and the inner loop of I-695 at the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore City. A utility problem was slowing traffic at Perring Parkway and Hillsway Avenue in Baltimore County. There were no major delays reported on Baltimore area transit systems.

I read with interest the letter detailing abuses of the speed camera system in Maryland ("Speed cameras nail the innocent, too," Feb. 4). Abuses unfortunately also extend to the red light system. Some time ago I received a citation from Baltimore's Department of Finance, Bureau of Revenue Collections demanding $75 for committing an illegal turn on red at a city intersection. However, turning on red is perfectly legal at that intersection, and the photograph on the citation shows my vehicle not even yet in the intersection, with the brake light on to boot.

A gunman held up a Ritchie Highway gas station Sunday, escaping with an undisclosed amount, county police said yesterday.The man walked into the Pasadena Gas and Go in the 8200 block of Ritchie Highway just before 10 p.m., held a pistol on the clerk and demanded money from the register.The clerk handed over the money, and the gunman fled north on Ritchie Highway.Pub Date: 11/12/96

As of 8:30 a.m. Monday, traffic was slow on Route 97 southbound near Generals Highway in Anne Arundel County, due to an accident. Accidents were slowing traffic at Route 100 westbound at Route 170 in Anne Arundel County and Rossville Boulevard and Belair Road in Baltimore County. Maryland Transit Administration is advising light rail patrons to expect minor delays from Hunt Valley to the Cromwell and BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport stops. There are no other delays on Baltimore area transit systems.

There were 23 fatalities on Harford County highways in 2011, a slight decrease from the previous year, but still too many, according to local police. They're hoping a new countywide task force will prevent at least some fatal accidents. "None of us want to experience the loss of a loved one or cause the loss of a loved one because of one careless moment in a motor vehicle that could have been avoided," Lt. Charles Moore, commander of the Maryland State Police Bel Air Barrack, said Monday.