National Pike

WITH the National Road Festival now under way, it's time for a brief review of the history of this roadway that represented America's first transportation link from the East to the western frontier.According to an Associated Press story by reporter Deb Reichmann, "The first portion of what would be called the National Road was conceived in 1797 by a group of Baltimore area bankers and businessmen who wanted to see more trade between the East and expanding territories in the Midwest. The group built a 135-mile stone toll road from Baltimore to Cumberland that was called the Bank Road."

Residents of a trailer park south of Mount Airy - upset that their community is being eyed for a possible employment campus zone - filled the meeting room of the Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission yesterday to voice their opposition. It was not supposed to be a public hearing, merely a work session for county planning staff to outline proposals for a new Mount Airy and Environs Community Comprehensive Plan. But planning commission Chairman Edward M. Beard allowed the residents to speak and began the meeting early, as the room began to fill early with nearly 100 Carroll County residents.

Residents of a trailer park south of Mount Airy - upset that their community is being eyed for a possible employment campus zone - filled the meeting room of the Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission yesterday to voice their opposition. It was not supposed to be a public hearing, merely a work session for county planning staff to outline proposals for a new Mount Airy and Environs Community Comprehensive Plan. But planning commission Chairman Edward M. Beard allowed the residents to speak and began the meeting early, as the room began to fill early with nearly 100 Carroll County residents.

Always, there were those lovely old country estates and gracious manor taverns with roaring fireplaces, but in the old days fine dining was associated with the city. Not so anymore. Now, there are more compelling reasons than ever for diners to cross county lines for a good meal. The 50 best county restaurants in Howard County, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore County is a mix of the old and the new, destinations for special occasions and joints for Monday night suppers, the chef-driven and crowd-pleasing.

The National Pike Festival celebrates the nation's first federally funded interstate highway linking the East to the Western frontier. The original festival began 19 years ago in Washington County, Pa., during the nation's bicentennial.Today, the festival stretches more than 300 miles from Pennsylvania, through parts of Maryland, West Virginia and into Eastern Ohio. It is billed "the longest festival in the world," and celebrations will be held on weekends through the end of May. In Maryland the festival will take place Saturday and next Sunday.

As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, traffic was slow on the inner loop of I-695 near Baltimore National Pike, due to an accident involving five vehicles. Traffic was slow on I-95 northbound near Washington Boulevard in Baltimore City, due to an accident involving two vehicles. There were no major delays reported on Baltimore area transit systems.

Six people were injured yesterday in a three-car accident that ended with a driverless car crashing into a motel satellite-dish support, county police said. The accident occurred about 10: 30 a.m. in front of the Boston Market in the 6400 block of Baltimore National Pike, police said. A 1992 Mazda driven by Antoine Taylor, 21, of the 1500 block of West Franklin St. and a 1998 Kia Sephia collided. The impact pushed the Kia into a 1988 Toyota pickup truck trying to turn into the Boston Market parking lot, police said.

Hoping to put a stop to panhandling and to beautify one of the Baltimore area's busiest intersections, the State Highway Administration plans to landscape the median strip of Baltimore National Pike at Rolling Road, part of $300,000 in improvements to the commercial corridor through Catonsville."