Mountain Road

County Executive Janet S. Owens has pledged to carry through on county promises to alleviate congestion on Mountain Road by supporting reversible lanes on the packed Pasadena roadway.Work is scheduled to begin this spring on transforming the left-turn lane into a drive-through lane that will accommodate heavy westbound traffic in the morning and heavy eastbound traffic in the evening.The county and the state are sharing the $500,000 cost.Residents who tried for 20 years to get something done about the road have been worried that plans agreed to in September would unravel when former County Executive John G. Gary left office.

An 18-year-old Pasadena man was arrested yesterday, and Mountain Road closed for nearly three hours, after a search of his car on a shopping center parking lot turned up five suspected explosive devices and a small quantity of marijuana, authorities said. Bomb specialists from the state fire marshal's office and a bomb-sniffing dog were summoned to the parking lot of Mountain Road Plaza, and the devices were taken behind the shopping strip and "rendered safe" by a destructive method, according to county fire Capt.

The owners of a Brooklyn Park carwash have proposed a golf driving range and pro shop at Route 100 and Mountain Road in Pasadena.Richard A. Fine, whose family owns the Ritchie Car Wash, is seeking a special exception to allow a "commercial recreational" facility on 32 acres zoned for low-density residential development.The facility would include 40 permanent tees, an 18-hole miniature golf course, batting cage and pro shop, county records show. The owners would provide 138 parking spaces, four more than required by county law.Residents in the small Bell Forest community may oppose the project, said Buck Tucker, a past president of the Bell Forest Homeowners Association.

Two words: Mountain Road."It's hideous," said Pasadena resident Tim Carroll, of the road that has been congested for two decades."I wish I had a monster truck, so that I could just drive over everybody," Pasadena resident Troy Graves said."

Are you tired of driving 20 to 30 minutes to pick up the latest Tom Clancy novel or self-help book?Relief may be on the way in the form of a new "storefront" library, most likely to be located off Mountain Road in or near the Lake Shore Plaza.A six-member committee appointed last fall by County Executive Robert R. Neall will meet again March 17 to finalize its recommendations on where the county should locate a library to serve the Mountain Road corridor.The committee has narrowed down its choices to four sites: two for an interim "store-front" library and two for a full-sized library branch.

With music by Chesapeake High School's marching band and a politician's promise to push for a traffic light on nearby Mountain Road, the new Pasadena Safeway opened yesterday at Lake Shore Plaza to a waiting crowd of about 100 shoppers.Safeway -- a tenant since the shopping center opened in 1983 -- closed its old store at 7 p.m. Tuesday, the remaining stock to be trucked to other stores in the chain, a spokesman said.The new Safeway, in the thoroughly remodeled shell of a defunct Jamesway discount store, is about 80 percent larger, with 51,930 square feet of floor space compared to the old store's 28,420.

Editor: Under normal circumstances I generally wouldn't write an editorial, BUT this one is so needed. Whatever happened to being respectful on our roads when a funeral procession is in progress? On Saturday, June 9, we were saddened because we were burying my Dad, Sam Mullins. As if this isn't already an upsetting experience in itself, it was complicated by the outright ignorance and total lack of respect for the deceased, his family, his friends and the staff of McComas in Abingdon.

ALLEVIATING congestion on Mountain Road in Pasadena may be a little closer at hand. Last week, officials from the state and Anne Arundel County agreed to create a reversible middle lane to move traffic during weekday rush hours.Residents and politicians described this agreement as a breakthrough, practically the local equivalent of a peace settlement in Northern Ireland. It's been nearly 20 years since a magazine described Mountain Road as "the longest dead-end street in America."While a modest temporary solution, a clearly marked reversible lane would be a major step to ease congestion and advance the debate on a more permanent solution.

The state legislators who represent Pasadena saw a $121 million surplus in Maryland's Transportation Trust Fund and figured they might be able to get $5 million of that to widen Mountain Road and relieve some of the rush-hour traffic jams.Del. John R. Leopold has asked state Transportation Secretary David L. Winstead to use some of that money next year to put the long-delayed project "on the front burner."Mr. Leopold sent a letter this month requesting the action. State Sen. Philip C. Jimeno and Dels.

Relief to long-suffering Mountain Road motorists came a step closer yesterday when the state set aside $500,000 to study widening a portion of the heavily traveled Pasadena route.The money will be used to analyze the environmental impact of adding a lane to the eastbound and westbound sides of Mountain Road between Route 100 and Lake Shore Drive.The one-mile stretch is three lanes wide with the middle lane designated as a left-turn lane.A State Highway Administration traffic study showed about 27,000 motorists use Mountain Road daily.