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...

Edward Joseph Miller, a retired state highway engineer and engineering consultant, died of a heart attack Friday at Washington County Hospital in Hagerstown. He was 69.Mr. Miller, a former Catonsville resident, had worked for the State Roads Commission -- later the State Highway Administration -- as a construction engineer in Baltimore before being transferred to Western Maryland about 35 years ago. He resided in Hagerstown.He was the district engineer for construction in the State Highway Administration's western-most district, which encompasses Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties, until his retirement from the agency about 20 years ago.He then founded SWEMCO, Inc., a Hagerstown engineering consulting company, which he ran for several years before retiring.

The dense fog that has hampered holiday travel this week should ease today as more than 525,000 cars hit Maryland highways on the year's busiest travel day.For two consecutive mornings, motorists and commuters battled thick fog, and visibility was less than a mile for most of yesterday, tying up area roads."

A Canadian truck driver whose improperly loaded rig knocked down a Beltway footbridge will not face criminal charges, prosecutors said yesterday -- angering the family of the man killed in the collapse."

College Trust plan can help Marylanders pay for educationOn behalf of the Maryland Prepaid College Trust, I want to encourage Marylanders to begin investing now for their children and grandchildren's college education.The College Trust provides Maryland families the opportunity to start saving for college by purchasing a contract based in part on this year's in-state tuition and mandatory fees at Maryland public colleges.When it's time for the child to enter college, the program will pay full tuition and mandatory fees at any Maryland public college.

A few years ago, roundabouts seemed the biggest thing in traffic engineering. Now, state highway officials are thinking small.Flush with the success of 13 traffic circles in Towson, Columbia and elsewhere in the state, officials want to introduce "mini-roundabouts," with islands as small as 6 feet across, compared with the 40- to 188-foot islands in more typical roundabouts.The small traffic circles -- used in England for many years -- could fit into a three- or four-way intersection and cost a fraction of the $150,000 to $600,000 price tag for the larger roundabouts.

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

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

Despite increasing concerns about traffic and safety on Route 32, some western Howard County residents said last night they would rather keep their congested road instead of changing it into a sleek four-lane highway."

The Cranberry Road-Route 27 intersection should have a traffic signal late next summer and perhaps earlier, state highway officials said yesterday.The intersection will soon be eligible for a traffic signal, "and now is the perfect time to make those plans," State Highway Administration district engineer Robert L. Fisher told the County Commissioners.Representatives of two Westminster companies near the intersection -- English American Tailoring and Random House -- say they are concerned about the safety of their employees and they want improvements at the intersection.

Eugene Thomas Camponeschi Sr., a retired State Highway Administration district engineer and Army veteran, died of liver failure Wednesday at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. He was 78. Mr. Camponeschi was born in Baltimore and raised on South Curley Street in Highlandtown. He was a 1949 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in 1967. He served with the Army Corps of Engineers in the U.S. and Austria from 1951 until being discharged in 1953.

State road crews prepared for a late-season storm that began with wet flakes about 7:30 p.m. yesterday. Forecasters were predicting the storm could hit Maryland with anything from a few inches to a foot of snow. Predictions of heavier accumulations east of Baltimore led Anne Arundel County officials to announce last night that public schools would be closed today. More than 2,700 personnel and 324,000 tons of salt are "on the ready" for the storm, Gov. Martin O'Malley said, as are more than 2,400 pieces of equipment from the State Highway Administration and Maryland Transportation Authority.

Water has been restored to businesses and residences affected by a major water main break Sunday that caused extensive flooding in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, a Baltimore public works spokesman said. Residences, restaurants and offices that had lost water or had low pressure were set to be back at full strength by last night, spokesman Kurt Kocher said. Kocher recommended that people remove the aerators from their taps and turn on the water to flush out sediment that might have accumulated, although the water is safe to drink.

If you needed to renew your driver's license yesterday, pick up an E-Z Pass at a state drop-in center, appeal your property tax assessment or file incorporation papers for a new business, you were out of luck: Maryland's government was closed. Friday was one of two days Gov. Martin O'Malley ordered most state agencies closed as part of a furlough plan designed to save the state $34 million amid plummeting tax revenues. The government will close again next Friday, the day after New Year's, and many workers will be required to take two to three more unpaid days off between now and the end of the fiscal year on June 30. The largest state employees union has been sharply critical of the move, posting satirical "Maryland State Santa" videos on YouTube that decry the furloughs as unfair and harmful to residents who rely on state services.

Midshipman suspected of having meningitis dies A first-year student at the Naval Academy died last night at University of Maryland Medical Center after he was hospitalized last week for a suspected case of bacterial meningitis, an academy spokeswoman said. The 20-year-old's name is being withheld pending family notification. The midshipman became ill Wednesday at Bancroft Hall and was taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center for initial treatment. As a precaution, 44 midshipmen, staff members and first responders who had close contact with the student have been taking antibiotics and are being monitored by medical staff.

Bill Newton was a motorcycle guy looking to change the general public's impression of people like him. So, he and some of his fellow leather-clad, bearded bikers signed up to pick up trash on the side of a piece of Reisterstown Road in the center of their town. These days, the Freedom Few Motorcycle Club of Maryland Inc. is a full-fledged charity that has done countless good deeds and participated in and even launched several programs to help their neighbors and others. And, nearly two decades later, they are still picking up litter.

Robert Alton Small, a retired State Highway Administration worker and avid golfer, died Wednesday of cancer at his Snow Hill home. The former Hamilton resident was 63. Mr. Small was born in Baltimore and raised in Gardenville. After graduating from Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School in 1963, he served in the Army. He had worked at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point shipyard and had been a member of Ironworkers Local 16. For the last p8 years until retiring in 2008, he had been employed in access and permits for the State Highway Administration.

The great thing about the English language is that it has so many words; you can be selective to ensure your message reflects your personality, as well as conveys your meaning. For example, if I were to describe the English language with the phrase, "It's got more words than you can shake a stick at!" I would appear down-to-earth and folksy. On the other hand, if I wanted to appear lofty or even pretentious, I might write: "Its myriad options give linguists and ordinary citizens, pari passu, unlimited opportunities to impart individuality."

Maryland Sen. Ulysses Currie, who is being investigated by the FBI in connection with his consulting work for Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, apparently pressured state highway officials to expedite a traffic light project near a shopping center where the grocery chain planned to open a store. Currie has been an outside consultant to Lanham-based Shoppers, according to the company, though he did not disclose any consulting work in financial statements that he is required to file with the state.

No one would ever mistake the median strip of Interstate 95 for the Grand Canyon's breathtaking Indian Springs campground. Maybe an ancient Indian burial ground, what with all the carcasses of animals sacrificed to four-wheeled machines that menace mere feet away. Yet there's something wild and slightly adventurous about pitching a tent under the stars and having dinner by the glow of thousands of headlights. Maryland - that is you and I - owns the land between the northbound and southbound lanes of the artery that connects Maine to Florida.