I 83

A collision at Padonia Road and Interstate 83 in Cockeysville snarled traffic and shut down portions of both roads late Saturday night, Baltimore County police said. The crash, involving a car and truck, occurred about 10 p.m. At least two people were injured. No details were immediately available on the cause of the crash or the conditions of the victims.

As often as we criticize the State Highway Administration, Intrepid Commuter feels an obligation to praise the agency's good works.Here are some of our favorite things about the SHA:Many of the lines its workers paint on the pavement are straight.Its roads are fairly hard.Highways described as southbound generally are.Its bridges usually don't collapse when new.But wait, there's more. Consider two criticisms of a state-maintained highway recently brought to our attention by faithful reader Frank A. Cirincione of Parkton, who commutes daily along Interstate 83.First, Mr. Cirincione writes, "The construction of the Warren Road exit off I-83 in Cockeysville . . . seems to be proceeding extremely slowly.

Fewer traffic tie-ups on York Road are expected after today's opening of a new exit off Interstate 83.Shortly after evening rush hour, state officials are scheduled to open the 1.5-mile-long extension of Warren Road from York Road to I-83 in Cockeysville.The $17.5 million project includes a partial interchange with the highway and a 350-space park-and-ride lot.This latest interchange will permit motorists to travel north on I-83 and then east on Warren Road, or west on Warren Road and south on I-83.

The commute to work from Pennsylvania and northern Baltimore County is about to get longer.Starting early next month, highway crews will resurface a 14-mile stretch of Interstate 83 between Shawan Road and the Pennsylvania line and replace the northbound bridge over Quaker Bottom Road.More than 48,000 people travel I-83 each day to get to jobs in Hunt Valley, Towson and Baltimore, say State Highway Administration officials.For the next several months, motorists will have to contend with lane and ramp closures as crews remove and resurface I-83, upgrade ramps and guardrails and add grooved pavement along the shoulder to warn motorists when they have left the travel lane.

The state is kicking off this week a $19 million, two-year project to improve five bridges and roadways near the interchange of the Baltimore Beltway and Interstate 83 in Baltimore County. The project is part of the state's continuing effort to improve highway safety and prepare for expansion of the northern section of the Beltway, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation's State Highway Administration. The following bridges and roads will be affected: The Joppa Road bridge over the Beltway will be replaced with a wider and higher bridge to allow for expansion of the highway below.

The driver of a pickup truck who caused a fatal accident last November when he drove the wrong way on Interstate 83 was sentenced in Baltimore County Circuit Court yesterday to 90 days of home detention, a decision that infuriated the victim's family. "He's walking away with nothing," said Charlene Bell, 34, of New Freedom, Pa., whose husband, Richard J. Bell Jr., 31, was killed in the Nov. 21 crash. "It's like he's getting off free." Calvin Eng, 47, of Fort Worth, Texas, was charged with auto manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident after he struck Bell's minivan about 4 a.m. in heavy fog while driving south in the northbound lanes of I-83 near the Belfast Road exit outside Sparks.

A longtime member of the Maryland Line Volunteer Fire Company died yesterday after being struck by a car on Interstate 83 while trying to assist in the rescue of a woman in an overturned vehicle. Bob Humphrey, 62, of Parkton, heard the call about an overturned vehicle on southbound I-83 around 9:20 a.m. and responded to the scene to help out, even though he wasn't called, said state Trooper Lee Link of the Golden Ring barrack. Humphrey had parked his car on the right shoulder of northbound I-83 and was walking across the highway to the accident scene when he was struck by a car in northbound fast lane, Link said.

DRIVING SOUTH from York, Pa., on Interstate 83, you pass billboards, potholes, more billboards, then more potholes. But when you cross into Maryland, you wind through lush, rolling valleys on smoother highways. Maryland sells itself. A visitors center in this section of I-83, where travelers could find bearings, brochures and clean bathrooms, seems an ideal way to lure tourists to attractions in northern and central Maryland.About a million people stop at the 11 welcome centers the state already operates.

A minivan traveling on Interstate 83 in northern Baltimore County yesterday veered into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with a flatbed truck, Maryland State Police said. The impact of the crash left the minivan's driver trapped in her mangled vehicle and caused as much as 150 gallons of diesel fuel to spill onto the roadway, police said. A three-mile stretch of I-83 was closed for about three hours as crews mopped up the fuel, police said. The minivan driver was conscious when emergency workers freed her. She was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where she was treated yesterday for injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said.

The Baltimore Department of Transportation today announced nightly ramp closures this week along Northern Parkway to southbound Interstate 83 for utility work. Detours are scheduled to go into effect tonight, and the ramp will close between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. each night through Friday, weather permitting, officials said. One lane of the southbound Jones Falls Expressway will also be closed for traffic this week, according to the department. Motorists traveling in this vicinity are encouraged to use alternate routes.