Roadways

Many drivers got stuck on their way home from work during Wednesday's snowstorm, and a few of them called The Sun to talk about it. Here are some of their stories: 'At least I'm not stuck … in a ditch' Alexis Rea left downtown about 5 p.m. Wednesday and pulled onto Interstate 83, thinking the highway would be a better choice during the storm because she did not know how the secondary roads were holding up. She wanted to...

All lanes of eastbound Route 50 were closed for more than three hours Friday afternoon because of a single vehicle accident past at Exit 29 to Route 179, just before the Bay Bridge, according to the state Department of Transportation. The accident occurred about 3:30 p.m. and debris in the roadway kept the route closed, halting all eastbound traffic. Lanes were backed up more than six miles, from Exit 29 south of Cape St. Clare through Parole. The transportation department told drivers to avoid the area and heavy traffic slowed roads around Annapolis.

With several major roadways and arteries to downtown condensed to one lane, traffic in the Baltimore area has been reduced to a snail-like pace, hampering commuters as they attempted to return to work Tuesday. A jack-knifed tractor-trailer early in the morning closed two lanes on southbound Interstate 83 near Falls Road, snarling the ride on the city's major thoroughfare from the north. Commutes were taking three to four times longer than normal, according to drivers, and the highway continued to be backed up well into late morning.

The Perryville town commissioners do their town a service by standing firm on the issue of whether the town will end up being financially responsible for a road that becomes a major truck access route for the Perry Point VA Medical Center. The federal veterans installation has been in place at Perry Point for decades, and truck access has long been a problem. As the years go by, trucks get bigger, but the space under the railroad bridges in Perryville doesn't grow. It's trucks that bring in the substantial loads of supplies needed at Perry Point, and for a number of years getting trucks under bridges and onto the facility has been a growing problem.

Snow showers and plunging temperatures combined last night to glaze roadways across Central Maryland with ice, causing numerous accidents and - in some areas - bringing traffic to a near standstill. Police departments said there were too many accidents to count as the unexpected snow fell, wetting roadways just before temperatures dropped into the 20s and coated roads with a thin but dangerous layer of ice. A state trooper was injured directing traffic on Route 27 at Cabbage Spring Road in Mount Airy in Carroll County, and was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment of leg injuries, police said.

A destructive line of storms packing heavy rains and high winds drenched much of Central Maryland yesterday, flooding roadways and cutting off power to thousands of homes. With gusts up to 45 mph and a rainfall rate as heavy as 5 inches per hour in some areas, the storm sent streams surging over banks and overtaxed urban drainage systems with water that flooded heavily traveled roadways - with up to 4 feet of standing water at one intersection - during the evening rush. No serious injuries were reported, but several people were rescued from vehicles caught in high waters, prompting authorities to close impassable roads.

If you bounce, shudder and shake while driving along the pockmarked roads in Baltimore and its suburbs, a new report says there's a good reason why: Almost half of the region's roadways provide an unacceptable ride quality. The Baltimore region ranks seventh-worst in the nation for the quality of its roads, according to a report released this week by The Road Information Program. The Washington-based nonprofit group found 49 percent of the region's roads unacceptable, compared with 25 percent nationwide.

Northbound traffic on Interstate 95 was delayed for more than an hour last night after a county Fire Department ambulance overturned on the shoulder of the roadway south of Crownsville Road. The ambulance was on the way to a maintenance shop when it overturned about 7:30 p.m. It was occupied only by its driver, who was not injured, said Division Chief John M. Scholz, a Fire Department spokesman. State police said motorists were detoured onto other roadways or directed past the damaged ambulance as highway workers removed debris.

It has been a very long time since I have read such a condescending, holier-than-thou commentary than that which Michael Dresser wrote in today's Sunpaper in which he praised the recently passed legislation in Annapolis that allows police to ticket cars that come within three feet of bicyclists on public roadways ("Sharing the road with bicycles is hardly a hardship," May 3). He says that this is hardly a hardship and denigrates all of the opinions of people who have pointed out serious safety concerns with regard to this requirement.

Up to 5 inches of snow fell overnight in downtown Baltimore and the surrounding area, keeping work crews up as they cleared major roadways. The snow began subsiding about 1 a.m. Wednesday as the storm headed northeast, but the National Weather Service forecast office in Sterling, Va., this afternoon posted a winter storm watch for nearly all of Maryland west of the Chesapeake Bay, warning of the possibility of more than a foot of snow — and...

A water main break on North Avenue is forcing drivers to detour around a block of the main thoroughfare, a city Public Works spokesman said Tuesday evening. The break on North and Madison avenues is in a 6-inch main and mainly affects motorists, though about 45 homes and two businesses are without water, spokesman Kurt Kocher said. The break and repair work is blocking westbound traffic on North Avenue between Eutaw Place and Madison Avenue. The block will be shut down until repairs are completed, Kocher said.

Many drivers got stuck on their way home from work during Wednesday's snowstorm, and a few of them called The Sun to talk about it. Here are some of their stories: 'At least I'm not stuck … in a ditch' Alexis Rea left downtown about 5 p.m. Wednesday and pulled onto Interstate 83, thinking the highway would be a better choice during the storm because she did not know how the secondary roads were holding up. She wanted to...

It has been a very long time since I have read such a condescending, holier-than-thou commentary than that which Michael Dresser wrote in today's Sunpaper in which he praised the recently passed legislation in Annapolis that allows police to ticket cars that come within three feet of bicyclists on public roadways ("Sharing the road with bicycles is hardly a hardship," May 3). He says that this is hardly a hardship and denigrates all of the opinions of people who have pointed out serious safety concerns with regard to this requirement.

With several major roadways and arteries to downtown condensed to one lane, traffic in the Baltimore area has been reduced to a snail-like pace, hampering commuters as they attempted to return to work Tuesday. A jack-knifed tractor-trailer early in the morning closed two lanes on southbound Interstate 83 near Falls Road, snarling the ride on the city's major thoroughfare from the north. Commutes were taking three to four times longer than normal, according to drivers, and the highway continued to be backed up well into late morning.

Up to 5 inches of snow fell overnight in downtown Baltimore and the surrounding area, keeping work crews up as they cleared major roadways. The snow began subsiding about 1 a.m. Wednesday as the storm headed northeast, but the National Weather Service forecast office in Sterling, Va., this afternoon posted a winter storm watch for nearly all of Maryland west of the Chesapeake Bay, warning of the possibility of more than a foot of snow — and...

The Federal Highway Administration on Friday designated four Maryland routes as America's Byways, placing them among the top driving tours in the nation. "The journey is the destination along these nationally designated Scenic Byways that provide an authentic Maryland experience," Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley said in a news release. The National Scenic Byways Program was created in 1991 to identify roads with unique archaeological, cultural, historical, natural, recreational and scenic qualities.

A woman who regularly panhandles on a Baltimore street, using signs to urge contributions for her 5-week-old baby, was arrested yesterday on charges of soliciting money from motorists, and the child was taken from her custody, police said.Sherone Denise Carter, 25, was arrested about 3:35 p.m. at the Jones Falls Expressway's North Avenue exit ramp, where she and her husband have been panhandling rush-hour traffic since October.Ms. Carter had walked out into southbound traffic stopped at a red light in the 1900 block of Mount Royal Terrace to solicit money from motorists when Officer Jim Holford spotted her.Officer Holford said Ms. Carter's daughter, Justarr Zawada Carter, was in a stroller on the nearby sidewalk, being watched by a stranger while her mother went to beg the motorists.

With anniversary observances of two wars expected to bring an influx of tourists, Maryland has received a $5.6 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration to improve and market its scenic roads. The infusion of money for the Maryland's Byways program will help the state prepare for the sesquicentennial of the Civil War starting in 2011 and the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. Important engagements of both wars were fought on Maryland soil, including the defense of Baltimore in 1814 and the Antietam campaign of 1862.

Transportation authorities recently closed a two-mile elevated section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia for several days to conduct emergency repairs after discovering a 6-foot crack in a concrete support pillar. Luckily, a highway inspector noticed the widening crack and helped avert a tragic collapse such as the nation witnessed in Minneapolis last August. Baltimore is also at high risk to suffer a catastrophe from crumbling infrastructure due to the confluence of six aging major highway systems.