Route 100

THE OPENING of Route 100 through Howard County completes a project that began with an idea first expressed more than 20 years ago. The two-decade lag from start to finish does not diminish the road's expected impact. Opening the highway's final leg should significantly reduce traffic on the county's most popular east-west thoroughfares -- Routes 32 and 175.Completion of all 21 miles of Route 100 allows motorists to travel from Ellicott City to Gibson Island in Anne Arundel County. In Howard, it gives commuters a quick connecting route between Interstate 95 and U.S. 29. That should reduce the number of drivers using the Baltimore Beltway to get between those two points.

WHILE THE RECENT opening of Route 100 in Howard County amounts to answered prayers for many road warriors, there's a flip side of angst swirling about the state's newest highway being used as an alternative to Routes 32 and 175.Stop-and-go snarls have cropped up at Route 100 and U.S. 29, where, commuters complain, the evening rush hour can cause vehicle crawls lasting up to 10 minutes. That seems like an eternity to many who are stuck on one of Columbia's main drags.Relief could arrive just after New Year's.

Drivers, start your engines.Today's opening of a five-mile section of Route 100 between Interstate 95 and U.S. 29 completes a long-awaited highway link in Baltimore's fast-growing suburbs -- in effect, an outer beltway providing a quick route between northeastern Howard County and Anne Arundel's Pasadena peninsula.Thousands of commuters will be able to avoid congestion on the Beltway and smaller county roads, saving as much as 20 minutes on an east-west trip. And Route 100 should play a significant role in stimulating commercial development, encouraging use of other modes of transportation, including rail, and finishing a network of highways between Baltimore and Washington.

Eager for the green flag, motorists yesterday raced onto a newly opened stretch of Route 100 -- its first morning rush hour. Gone were the dreaded Beltway traffic snarls and the stoplights on Route 32.Yet, as commuters raced east and west -- their dream of unimpeded and quick access between the Pasadena peninsula in Anne Arundel County and U.S. 29 in Howard finally realized -- some were forced to make pit stops.Within 90 minutes, Howard County police issued speeding tickets to 30 drivers just west of Interstate 95. Police said they were sending a message.

Some unexpected construction glitches likely will delay the opening of the new Route 100 through eastern Howard County until late September, a stall of several weeks that highway officials say is of little consequence given that the project is already more than two decades in the making.State Highway Administration engineer Bob Fisher described the problems as minor. An old foundation for the road near Interstate 95 has deteriorated more than expected and must be repaved, and large sound barriers being erected near U.S. 29 are proving difficult to install.

Jerry Johnston's concerns include one dear to many Howard County residents: avoiding traffic.So the 33-year-old electrical engineer has a lot riding on Route 100, the construction of which he can see from the back yard of his new house in the Willowood subdivision east of Columbia.The highway is scheduled to open next summer, at least six months ahead of recent forecasts. It will provide a much-needed straight shot from U.S. 29 to Interstate 95, streamlining Johnston's daily commute to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Fulton, south of Columbia.

IS A POTOMAC MILLS-SIZED regional shopping mall in the cards for a 1,000-acre site just south of Baltimore-Washington International Airport? Perhaps. But the mere fact that the Mills Corp., the Virginia-based developer of some of the world's largest discount malls, is exploring the possibility underscores the economic importance of Route 100.When that connector road is completed in another year, it will link the airport and business zone to Columbia and provide motorists easy access to such main arteries as the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and Interstate 95.The Mills Corp.

It was planned back in the '60s as a sort of shortcut to the city in one direction and to Chesapeake Bay resorts in the other. But Route 100, stretching east-west across Anne Arundel and Howard counties, has matured into such a potent business generator that it's changing the character of the once-rural area.The latest extension of the route -- seven miles that pulled it westerly and hooked it up to Interstate 95 -- ensures the transformation will continue.Anne Arundel County developers say the extension, smartly marketed, is helping them build up the area around Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

The State Highway Administration has no plans to modify the the intersection of Route 216 and Baltimore Avenue, despite complaints from North Laurel residents that the crossroads is dangerous.Erin Henson, a SHA spokeswoman, said a traffic study conducted by engineers several years ago showed there was not enough volume or accidents to warrant a light or a traffic circle."There's just not enough traffic," Henson said.Sgt. Steven E. Keller, a county police spokesman, said there were two accidents at the intersection in 1995 and one last year.

4,000 seedlings planted in median of Route 100The state Department of Natural Resources has planted 4,000 loblolly pine seedlings and 300 red oak seedlings in the barren median of Route 100 near the Route 10 interchange.The original trees were cut down in the 1960s so the 6.3-acre area could be used as a base for crews building the first sections of Route 100 from Mountain Road to what then was Route 3.The median remained bare until until local residents and Republican Del. John R. Leopold of the 31st District pressured state officials to reforest it.Pub Date: 6/06/97

On January 31, 2009, DORIS E. GUENTHER O'LOUGHLIN; beloved wife of the late W. Donald O'Loughlin; adored mother of Keith, Timothy and Phillip O'Loughlin. Family and friends are invited to gather at Gary L. Kaufman Funeral Home at Meadowridge Memorial Park, Inc., 7250 Washington Blvd., Elkridge, MD 21075 (exit 6 south off route 100), on Wednesday, 11 A.M. to 12 noon the funeral hour. Interment Cedar Hill Cemetery.

On November 16, 2008 DORLES E. (nee Smith) beloved wife of the late Cameron E. Ryder; devoted mother of Gail Burks, Rita Brown and her husband Alvin, Judith Wallace and her husband Ron Butler and the late Jerry Ryder. Also survived by many grandchildren. Family and friends are invited to gather at Gary L. Kaufman Funeral Home at Meadowridge Memorial Park, Inc., 7250 Washington Blvd., Elkridge, MD 21075 (Exit 6 S off Route 100) on Thursday 4-8 p.m. where a funeral service will be held in the Vermillion Chapel on Friday at 10 a.m. Interment Lakeview Memorial Park.

On Saturday, July 26, 2008, ROBERT SAMSON CHAMBERS, JR., of Glen Burnie, MD, beloved son of Ruth E. M., and Robert S. Chambers, Sr., grandson of Russell T. Chambers, brother of Melissa M. Tester and her husband Michael and the late Joseph M. Chambers, uncle of Brooke and Morgan Tester. He is also survived by many cousins. Family and friends are invited to gather at Gary L. Kaufman Funeral Home at Meadowridge Memorial Park, Inc., 7250 Washington Boulevard, Elkridge, MD, (exit 6 off Route 100)

Kristen Detwiler had just merged onto busy Route 100 in Ellicott City one afternoon last week when she saw a shocking sight: Her 7-year-old autistic son was running against traffic on the right shoulder. "I slammed on the brakes and started running after him yelling, 'Stop, Colin, it's Mommy! Stop! stop!'" she recalled. Detwiler gathered up her son as other motorists called 911. A county police officer arrived and accompanied Detwiler back to Veterans Elementary School, the site of a county-sponsored summer day camp from which her son had wandered off. Though the boy was unharmed, Detwiler, an Ellicott City resident, said she is angry that camp staffers did not call police earlier and that after the incident, she did not receive a call from a high-ranking parks department official for two days.

Appeals court hears day care union case The Maryland Court of Special Appeals heard a case yesterday over Gov. Martin O'Malley's decision to allow a union to represent family child care providers during negotiations for state subsidies. The Maryland State Family Child Care Association sued to stop O'Malley's executive order from going into effect, and two Republican lawmakers, Del. Michael D. Smigiel Sr. and Sen. Allan H. Kittleman, have said that the Democratic governor overstepped his bounds.

On March 21, 2007, HOLLUS B. (nee Butler), beloved wife of the late Earl Seymour, beloved mother of Robert and his wife Dianne Seymour, dear sister of the late Maurice Butler and Pauline Fowler, loving grandmother of Michelle Bennett and her husband Mike, Mary Cather and her husband Jerry, and Robert Seymour and his wife Jenny, cherished great grandmother of Lauren, Brian and Michael Bennett, Zac and Timmy Cather, Kylee and Hunter Seymour. Family and friends are invited together at GARY L. KAUFMAN FUNERAL HOME AT MEADOWRIDGE MEMORIAL PARK, INC., 7250 Washington Blvd, Elkridge, MD 21075 (exit 6 off route 100)

On March 1, 2007, DAN DANIELS, of Elkridge, MD. Loving husband of Barbara Daniels; devoted father of Daniel, Benjamin, David, Theresa and Molly. Loving grandfather of Daniel Briar. Long time owner of Daniels Restaurant and a proud Vietnam Veteran. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the GARY L. KAUFMAN FUNERAL HOME at MEADOWRIDGE MEMORIAL PARK, INC., 7250 Washington Blvd., Elkridge (exit 6 off route 100), on Sunday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. and to attend services at St. Augustines Roman Catholic Church, on Monday at 10 A.M. Interment private.

On May 21, 2006, WILLIAM HOWARD SCHLOTTHOBER Sr. He is survived by his beloved wife Emma, his daughter-in-law Linda, granddaughter Casey, his brother, Raymond, three sisters, Anna Wimpling, Lillian Goldstraw and Alma Horant, and his sister-in-law Gerry Santasania. He will be missed by many other family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his son, William Howard Schlotthober Jr, Ph D., and his brother Charles L. Schlotthober. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the GARY L. KAUFMAN FUNERAL HOME AT MEADOWRIDGE MEMORIAL PARK, INC. 7250 Washington Boulevard (exit 6 off Route 100)

Hunt Valley Security device tested at station Commuters arriving at the MARC train station in Hunt Valley yesterday found themselves trooping through a metal building that abruptly appeared on the station's parking lot overnight. The building is a 20-foot-long mobile security station that is being tested by the federal Transportation Security Administration. People walking through stop briefly at a screening device that shoots puffs of air to test for residue of explosives, while their bags are run through X-ray machines similar to those used in airport security.

A chain-reaction accident halted traffic on Route 100 near Waterloo late in yesterday's evening rush and sent three people to hospitals, state police reported. The accident occurred about 6 p.m. when a driver heading east on Route 100 near U.S. 1 lost control of a vehicle, crossed the median and collided with a westbound vehicle, police said. Five other vehicles were involved in subsequent collisions in the westbound lanes, police said. Westbound traffic was detoured from the crash site for a short time while damaged vehicles were being removed and the three injured people were being treated and taken away -- two by ambulance to Howard County General Hospital, the other by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, police said.