Route 32

An unidentified man was killed late Monday night as he tried to cross Route 32 in Gambrills, state police said. The man was hit near Burns Crossing Road about 10:30 p.m. by a 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by William Ellison, 21, of the 2000 block of Brigadier Blvd. in Odenton. Ellison was not charged. Police think the victim was a Hispanic man about 30 years old. Before the collision, county police received reports of an intoxicated pedestrian in the area, state police said. Anyone with information is asked to call state police at 410-761-5130.

A Silver Spring man was seriously injured when his car struck a utility pole in western Howard County Wednesday night, police said.Jason Alcoba, 19, was listed in critical but stable condition at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.Mr. Alcoba was driving a 1983 Mazda north on Hall Shop Road south of Route 32 about 11 p.m. when the car went out of control, skidded off the roadway and struck a utility pole. The car then caught on fire.Police -- who are attributing the accident to excessive speed and alcohol -- are investigating.

Volunteers will help beautify the interchange at U.S. 1 and Route 32 at 9 a.m. tomorrow. The joint effort of county government, State Highway Administration workers, North Laurel Boy Scout Troop 62 and employees of the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning, links the SHA Partnership Planting Program and Howard County Route 1 Corridor revitalization effort. The partnership program works with garden clubs and community organizations to improve area highways and the environment.

A 25-year-old Middle River woman was in critical condition at Johns Hopkins Hospital after she was injured in a car crash Friday afternoon on Route 32.Victoria E. Zavala, of the 400 block of Retford Way, was traveling north on Route 32 in Clarksville at 4:20 p.m. Friday when her car was hit from behind by a Porsche as she slowed down for another car in front of her.Ms. Zavala's 1987 Hyundai was knocked across the yellow line of the two-way road and into a 1993 Chevy van heading south on Route 32.The driver of the van, Robert E. McDonald, 34, of the 1400 block of Triadelphia Road in Dayton, and his wife, Lisa, 30, were taken to Howard County General Hospital, where they were released Saturday.

FASTER THAN expected, perhaps slower than hoped for, the pieces are beginning to come together for economic development in South Carroll.The latest good news is the state's agreement for a two-month traffic study to consider widening Route 32 to four lanes from Interstate 70 to Sykesville. That 7 1/2 -mile, north-south stretch is critical in attracting industrial and business development to Carroll County, particularly the Sykesville-Eldersburg area.Transportation improvements are essential if southeast Carroll is fully recognize its development potential, instead of remaining the magnet for accelerating residential growth, overburdening public services and generating less tax revenue than businesses.

The Carroll County Department of Public Works is taking a wait-and-see-what-the-state-says attitude before deciding where to link Obrecht Road to Route 32 in Sykesville.The State Highway Administration (SHA) is reviewing the project."Our feelings would be predicated on whatever the state comes up with on this project," said Keith R. Kirschnick, the public works director, at a meeting with the county commissioners yesterday.The Obrecht Road realignment has been a capital project in the Freedom Master Plan since 1978, said Edmund "Ned" Cueman, county planning director.

National Security Agency officials have sought the help of the county's State House delegation to solve a growing number of auto accidents in front of the top-secret listening post at Fort George G. Meade.NSA Policy Director Richard W. Gronet has asked the county's 18 state lawmakers to intervene with the state Department of Transportation to finish the expansion of Route 32 in front of the federal agency's headquarters.The State Highway Administration has expanded much of Route 32, once a country road, into a high-speed freeway linking Annapolis and Columbia.

State transportation officials have put a $200 million price tag on widening nine miles of Route 32 to Howard's rural west, reviving hopes that the project, which has lain dormant for nearly a decade, may go forward. County Executive James N. Robey and members of the state delegation said the work on Route 32, designed to ease congestion on the road where it narrows to two lanes between Route 108 and Interstate 70, will be expensive. But they agreed that it has to be done. Robey listed the project third on Howard's list of transportation priorities for state funding for next year, behind improvements to U.S. 1 and U.S. 29. After a meeting with transportation officials Thursday night in an annual session to discuss local projects, Robey said he wasn't surprised by the high cost and that the unsafe conditions warrant the change.

The Carroll commissioners yesterday denied a request to rezone a 12.5-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Routes 32 and 97 from agriculture to general business."

The owner of a Gamber carryout beer, wine and sandwich shop died late Monday after her car ran off Route 32 and crashed into the porch of a house, authorities said.Sandra Lee Timchula, 35, of the 2600 block of Sykesville Road near Gamber was ejected from the car, police said. She was taken by state MedEvac helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where she was pronounced dead at 10: 50 p.m., a hospital spokeswoman said yesterday.The 1998 Chrysler was traveling north on Route 32 (Sykesville Road)