State Highway Administration

For more than 35 years, Robert Lambdin tried to keep Maryland's traffic from jamming, helping to figure out which highways to build and where.It was no easy job. As a senior forecaster for the State Highway Administration, Mr. Lambdin had to tell his bosses not just how many cars and trucks might use a given strip of road today, but how many might use the road 20 years from now.He was considered an expert at his job, the dean of traffic forecasters in...

Howard County fire fighters put out a one-alarm fire that was reported early Wednesday morning inside a state-owned vehicle repair shop in Dayton. According to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services, crews responded to an alarm around 3 a.m. in the 4400 block of Route 32 and found a vehicle on fire inside the repair shop, causing heavy smoke. The six-bay garage is owned and operated by the State Highway Administration. The fire was extinguished within half an hour, causing little damage to the building and no reported injuries, according to the fire department.

An article in the Carroll County edition of The Sun yesterday should have said that County Commissioner Donald I. Dell attended a State Highway Administration meeting Tuesday night Eldersburg.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 10/01/98

Starting Friday evening, the Northwest Expressway — Interstate 795 — will be undergoing resurfacing between the Baltimore Beltway and Owings Mills Boulevard in Northwest Baltimore County, officials said. The road work is expected to continue until next fall, according to a statement Monday from the State Highway Administration. There will be single lane closures in both directions of the expressway between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays and throughout the weekend. Double lane closures will largely take place during evening and overnight hours.

1 The State Highway Administration will be widening U.S. 1, between Route 175 and Meadowridge Road. This construction will occur over the next few years.

Multiple projects to repair area roads are scheduled to begin next week and cause lane closures along stretches of Interstates 95 and 83, Route 32 and Loch Raven Boulevard. Interstate 95: The Maryland Transportation Authority will begin a three-month project Sunday to install new steel expansion joints and replace portions of the concrete deck of the southbound Interstate 95 bridge over Desoto Road. Between one and three lanes of I-95 south will be closed, as will the Washington Boulevard entrance ramp, between 7:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. Friday through Saturday.

The State Highway Administration will hold a public hearing Tuesday to discuss the proposed Solomons Island Road widening project.The hearing will begin at 7 p.m. at Central Middle School, 221 Central Ave., Edgewater. The proposed project covers about one mile from Virginia Avenue to south of Pike Ridge Road.Requests to speak at the hearing should be submitted by tomorrow to Robert Schneider, Project Manager, Project Planning Division, State Highway Administration, 707 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21202-0717.

POLICE* Hickory Ridge: At Route 29 near Brokenland Parkway: A Mac 10 semi-automatic pistol was found about 2 p.m. Thursday in the grass by State Highway Administration workers. The gun had a clip containing 27 bullets. Investigators are trying to determine where it came from.

An editorial on Thursday mistakenly identified a Lutherville community that has been denied sound barriers by the State Highway Administration. The community is Longford North, and it is located near Interstate 83.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 7/18/98

The State Highway Administration has rescheduled the next meeting of a panel considering possible changes to Route 32 in western Howard County. Members will meet at 4 p.m. Feb. 5 in the Gateway Building, 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive, Columbia. Information: 410-545-8571.

Multiple projects to repair area roads are scheduled to begin next week and cause lane closures along stretches of Interstates 95 and 83, Route 32 and Loch Raven Boulevard. Interstate 95: The Maryland Transportation Authority will begin a three-month project Sunday to install new steel expansion joints and replace portions of the concrete deck of the southbound Interstate 95 bridge over Desoto Road. Between one and three lanes of I-95 south will be closed, as will the Washington Boulevard entrance ramp, between 7:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. Friday through Saturday.

Work is under way on two state highway repaving projects in opposite ends of Harford County, the State Highway Administration said. A $1 million project began Monday to repair damaged pavement along Route 7 (Philadelphia Road) in Joppa. Weather permitting, SHA anticipates completing the resurfacing by late spring. Contractor crews will patch, mill and resurface Route 7 between the Baltimore/Harford County Line and Route 152 (Mountain Road). According to an SHA news release, lane closures and flagging operations may occur along sections of Route 7 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday.

A winter weather advisory remains in effect for the Baltimore area until 1 p.m. Saturday, as rain continues to fall on top of last night's snow, creating an icy mess. The wintry mix left less than an inch of snow around Baltimore City, but higher accumulations in the outer suburbs, according to observations from the National Weather Service, which lists 1.9 inches near Bel Air and 1.4 inches near Laurel. Freezing rain will continue to fall in the morning, changing to rain in the early afternoon, the National Weather Service says.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley told state lawmakers Tuesday that internal auditors knew about some irregularities in the awarding of contracts by the State Highway Administration but didn't raise an alarm. The transportation chief went before the General Assembly's Joint Committee on Audits to respond to two reports this year that identified ethical lapses and violations of contracting rules in one of the largest agencies of state government. Swaim-Staley said she is moving aggressively to change a culture at the SHA that put getting work done above abiding by the state's procurement laws.

Melinda Peters, who has overseen construction of the $2.6 billion Intercounty Connector in suburban Washington, was named Thursday to head the State Highway Administration — an agency under scrutiny after a highly critical legislative audit. The appointment by Gov. Martin O'Malley makes Peters, 38, the first woman to head the agency, which has an annual budget of about $1 billion. The announcement was made as the SHA is completing the ICC, which links Interstates 270 and 95. The new highway is scheduled to open for traffic Tuesday morning.

The top procurement official at the State Highway Administration has left the agency four months after a harshly critical legislative audit criticized the agency's performance in the awarding of contracts. The SHA announced the departure of Robert P. Gay, director of the agency's Office of Procurement, in an email to staff on Monday. SHA officials, saying that state law prevents them from commenting on personnel matters, gave no explanation. But Gay, reached at his home in Harford County, confirmed his departure.

Last week, Watchdog reported that the Exit 8A sign on the Baltimore Beltway inaccurately reported the distance to the Harbor Tunnel Thruway (Interstate 895). On Saturday, workers replaced the overhead sign with one showing the correct distance, according to Maryland State Highway Administration spokesman David Buck.

Peter J. Malloy, retired assistant chief of the Bureau of Relocations of the State Highway Administration, died Nov. 13 of cancer at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 74 and lived on Fenwick Avenue.A memorial mass for Mr. Malloy will be offered at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, Calvert and Madison streets.He retired from the state post nine years ago. He had worked for the State Highway Administration for 20 years.The Baltimore native was a graduate of Loyola High School, Loyola College and the University of Maryland Law School.

Just like the cars that often wait in queue at the intersection of intersection of Route 32 and Johnsville/Bennett roads in Eldersburg, a proposal to add another lane there might have to wait behind other projects all across the state. State Delegate Susan Krebs and County Commissioner Doug Howard met with a representative of the State Highway Administration on Thursday, Oct. 27, at the intersection to pitch the idea of adding a designated left turn lane on Route 32 northbound.