Route 30

In little more than a month, Hampstead officials say, they'll know the route chosen by the State Highway Administration for the long-planned 5.8-mile bypass around the congested North Carroll town.And a 10-member committee set up by Hampstead officials in December to speed up the project is ready to begin negotiating with property owners to help the state acquire rights of way.The goal, committee members say, is to secure the necessary land, either through purchase or donation, and keep the acquisition costs close to the $5 million allocated by the state.

Manchester Town Council has endorsed task force recommendations to beautify Route 30 and to improve traffic flow along the busy corridor - but not without barbed comments about the need for a bypass. Construction on the road improvements could begin by 2002 and be completed by 2004, said Philip L. Arbaugh, town manager. An estimated $600,000 to $700,000 for planning and engineering work is in the state budget, town officials said. Arbaugh asked the council to act on the recommendations Tuesday night, so the plans developed with the State Highway Administration would be realized as soon as possible.

A new study states that the habitat of the endangered bog turtle would not be damaged by construction of a badly needed Route 30 bypass around Hampstead, offering commuters hope for an end to long waits at the Carroll County town's stoplights, and perhaps allaying concerns about the survival of a creature few people had heard of three years ago. "Construction of the Hampstead Bypass will ... have a negligible impact on the bog turtle wetlands," said...

A concrete "pork chop" built in a southbound lane of Route 30 between Manchester and Hampstead is an accident waiting to happen, according to nearby residents and their state delegate. The State Highway Administration agrees - and the directional island will be removed, said Daniel P. Doherty, a transportation engineer in the agency's engineering access permits division. "We are going to have it removed back to the existing curb lane," said Doherty-who knows the spot well, because he lives in Manchester and commutes to Baltimore.

Construction of the $70 million Hampstead bypass, a 4 1/2 -mile-long road that has been nearly 40 years in the planning, will begin in the fall of next year, state transportation officials said yesterday. "We are going to fund it," Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan said to a round of applause and cheers in a meeting with the county delegation and town officials. "This is a great day for Hampstead. The bypass is on its way." Traffic on Route 30, a state highway that becomes Main Street in Hampstead, made Flanagan a bit late for the meeting.

FireManchester: Firefighters responded at 9: 29 p.m. Wednesday to an auto fire on Route 30. Units were out 10 minutes.Pub Date: 7/26/96

Rob Gonzalez seldom gets caught in the gridlock that snarls Route 30 in Hampstead each weekday morning - neither would you if you got to work at 3:30 a.m. But rush hour is another matter. "It can take 20 minutes to go three miles; you literally have to plan for that," said Gonzalez, owner of Snickerdoodles, a bakery-cafe on Route 30. During rush hour, he and other local residents all but avoid the road frequented by ex-Marylanders who now live as far as 15 miles to the north in Hanover, Pa., but still work and do business here.

FireManchester: Firefighters from Pleasant Valley assisted Manchester at 7: 20 a.m. Monday, responding to an auto fire on Route 30 at E. Deep Run Road. Units were out 18 minutes.Pub Date: 1/22/97