Intersection

Anne Arundel County Deputy Tanya Pfaltzgraff was promoted this week to the rank of sergeant. She began her career with the Sheriff's Office in 1994 as a volunteer and part-time deputy. She became a full-time deputy in 1997 and has held positions throughout the department. She also is a lieutenant with the West Annapolis Volunteer Fire Department and is pursuing a bachelor's degree in criminal psychology at the University of Maryland. Arlene Baker Deale traffic circle aims to boost safety The State Highway Administration officially opened a traffic circle this week in Deale aimed at reducing crashes and improving pedestrian safety.

Despite admitting that he knew a traffic light wasn't working when he drove his tractor-trailer through a Columbia intersection and slammed it into a car, killing two teens, Gary L. Dicks, 24, of Stephens City, Va., was acquitted yesterday on a pair of traffic charges. The ruling by Howard County District Court Judge Pamila J. Brown appears to spare Dicks of any criminal liability in the Jan. 6, 2006, crash at westbound Route 175 and the southbound ramp off Interstate 95. Three civil cases are pending against Dicks in Howard County Circuit Court.

Margaret Bender's plans to sell part of the land behind her Carney home to a developer have been in limbo for a year. Now the 70-year-old widow might be able to move forward -- thanks to a 180-degree pivot by the Baltimore County Council from an election-year decision that one member now calls "rash." The vote by the County Council on April 16 to effectively lift a ban on construction near the intersection of Joppa and Harford roads has stirred community fears about increased traffic. At least one residential project, calling for 16 houses, is being planned near the intersection.

The two Eastern District police officers who were shot Monday while responding to a report of illegal gambling in East Baltimore have been released from Maryland Shock Trauma Center, police said. Officer Karen Brzowsky, 29, who was shot in the arm, was discharged yesterday. Officer Loretta L. Francis, 34, who was shot in the abdomen, was treated and released Monday night. Brzowsky, driver of the car, and Francis, the passenger, were approaching the intersection of Orleans and North Port streets about 6:30 p.m. Monday when they were shot by a man armed with a stolen .357 Magnum handgun as he attempted to rob men engaged in a dice game near the intersection.

Hard not to be cynical about facilities lawEdward Lee's article "Panels to seek public's advice" (June 8) raised my blood pressure. It wasn't the reporter's words that caused my blood pressure to rise, but the comments of some of the people quoted.That article stated that only 14 residents spoke at a hearing on the Howard County Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) June 7.A previous article quoted a county official as saying, "They're expecting the government to keep an eye on development so they don't have to invest their Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights" ("Panels to seek public's advice," July 5)

Article was misleading about red-light programI am writing in response to Larry Carson's article ("Camera is not always candid," Nov. 7) about Howard County's red-light camera enforcement program.The article missed the focus of our program and was misleading about what constitutes a red-light violation.Our program is designed to save lives and reduce the number of collisions that occur as a result of red-light running. The program is working. The law has always said that you must not enter an intersection when facing a red traffic signal.

County officials have turned down a request by a group of North Laurel parents petitioning for a school crossing guard at a busy intersection near Laurel Woods Elementary School.After conducting a six-week traffic study, Howard County transportation officials said that the intersection at North Laurel Road and Old Lantern Way in North Laurel does not meet transportation guidelines for a crossing guard."We believe that the intersection warrants improvements but not a crossing guard," said George E. Frangos, an engineer with Howard County's Department of Public Works.

Baltimore will begin operating cameras at six city intersections today to catch motorists running red lights.The city joins Howard County in installing the video cameras, with hopes of reducing the number of red-light violators and traffic accidents in the city. Last week, Baltimore County announced its intent to start the program.The cameras have been installed on Edmondson Avenue at Cooks Lane and Hilton Parkway, and on Northern Parkway at Falls Road and York Road. Cameras are also set up at Eastern Avenue and Kane Street and at Reisterstown Road and Patterson Avenue.

Three people died last night when a Ford pickup truck collided with a Ford van at U.S. 40 and Mechanics Valley Road in North East, Cecil County, state police said.The driver of the van and two passengers in the pickup truck were pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 10 p.m., said state police Sgt. Charles Pertain of the North East barracks. The driver of the truck was flown by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Pertain said.Pertain said that it appeared one vehicle had entered the intersection without having the right of way and broadsided the other but that investigators had not finished studying the accident.

Relief is on the way for motorists who traverse two of Howard County's busiest intersections -- U.S. 29 at Route 216 and Route 175 at Snowden River Parkway.Crews have started construction of new overpasses at the crossings, which cause daily backups during the morning and evening rush hours.Work on a third intersection -- U.S. 29 and Johns Hopkins Road -- won't begin until next summer at the earliest.A new traffic signal-free interchange at Route 175 and Snowden River Parkway in east Columbia is expected to open in the fall of 2000 -- nearly a year before the U.S. 29 and Route 216 project in Scaggsville is completed.

It was one week ago when my colleague, Baltimore Sun Business Editor Tim Wheatley, was killed in a crash with a United Parcel Service truck at the intersection of York and Corbett roads in northern Baltimore County. In an instant a vital, healthy man of 48 with a wife, three children and the deep respect of his professional colleagues became a statistic to be entered into a national database. The next day I traveled to that intersection to try to find what answers, if any, could be gleaned from visiting the site and driving the roads and putting myself in the position of Tim and the UPS driver as they approached the point of collision.

The stoplight at the northern Baltimore County intersection where a Baltimore Sun editor was killed in a collision with a United Parcel Service truck Monday morning is in good repair and was operating in a standard green-yellow-red manner at the time of the crash, officials said. The investigation into the death of business editor Timothy M. Wheatley was continuing Tuesday, but the early indication was that one of the drivers involved in the crash ran a red light, according to Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey.

At first glance, the western Howard County intersection of Route 32 and River Road looks much like any other along the busy corridor heading toward the nearby Carroll County line. Cars and trucks zoom in both directions, most not heeding the 50-mph speed limit, many not adhering to signs advising headlights for better visibility and nearly every one of them ignoring cars trying to inch into traffic. To those who live in the Howard Lodge neighborhood tucked inside that intersection, the confluence of high-speed driving and a quick turn into traffic was, quite literally and tragically, an accident waiting to happen.

Shannon Robertson regularly passes through the 33rd Street intersection near Lake Montebello on her way to her mother's house, where she drops off her children during the week. "It's such a busy intersection, and there are so many different directions that traffic is flowing in," she said. "I've seen many almost-accidents." Which is why replacing the traffic lights with a roundabout "might be a good idea," said Robertson, of West Baltimore, who was biking around the lake with her two daughters Sunday morning.

We can probably all agree that being a panhandler is no fun. Most of the time, people pass you by as if you're not even there. Or else they shoot you dirty looks because they think you're running some kind of scam. The scam theory is one that I never really understood. Look, I see panhandlers out there in the rain and snow and freezing cold. I see them out there when it's 95 degrees and the humidity would make a mule keel over. Would you really be out in that kind of weather if you weren't desperate?

State highway crews will begin the first phase of upgrades to the Route 24 and I-95 intersection in Abingdon tomorrow as surveys and utility relocations get under way. The Maryland Transportation Authority is beginning a three-year, $38 million construction project for a 1.5-mile stretch of Route 24 from the I-95 ramp to Route 924. The improvements will add capacity, relieve congestion and make the four-lane highway that already handles about 65,000 vehicles...

The problem : A downtown crosswalk is poorly marked, leaving pedestrians at risk. The backstory : Ben Nuckols is too chicken to cross the road - at least, Pratt Street at Eutaw Street. The painted crosswalk stripes are extremely faded and sometimes completely missing, particularly on the east side of the intersection. Nuckols said that's a problem for impatient drivers lined up to turn left from southbound Eutaw onto Pratt, in front of the new convention center hotel. Most "don't realize it's a crosswalk, and they've generally been waiting a while to turn left and it's a pretty short light," Nuckols said.

Within a week, the 65,000 motorists who go through the Interstate 95 and Routes 24 and 924 interchange in Abingdon every day will begin to see temporary concrete barriers installed, as crews isolate the work area for a $38 million effort to improve the troublesome crossing. Drivers might still experience construction-related delays but a nonstop ride from I-95 north to Singer Road is in sight. The state plans to eliminate the signal for through traffic on Route 24 by building a bridge over Route 924. "That intersection has always been a bottleneck," said Janice Troutman of Bel Air. "I like the idea of going over it and avoiding the hassles."

Braking at the intersection of North Avenue and St. Paul Street, drivers breathe cigarette smoke out their windows, slosh takeout sodas, stare at their nails. No one notices that a cluster of pointy trees has sprouted in the median. No one notices that a few of the trees aren't actually alive or even green, or that, despite the July heat, one is coated with a light dusting of snow. These trees are art. No one notices that, either. Baltimore and public art have had a stormy relationship of late.

THE PROBLEM -- Three street light poles are missing at Belair Road and Erdman Avenue. THE BACKSTORY -- Patrick Glenn noticed several months ago that the lights were not shining as brightly at a Northeast Baltimore intersection as they used to. Car accidents had felled two street light poles on Belair Road just north of Erdman Avenue in Belair-Edison. A cone also marked the location of a missing pole on the northwest corner, near a CVS and a bus stop. Glenn, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, said he called the city's 311 service as well as Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. "They said it belongs to the city," Glenn said.