Traffic

Orb's path to the finish line in the second leg of the Triple Crown remains uncrowded. Normandy Invasion, the fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, dropped from contention for Saturday's 138th running of the Preakness on Sunday. Trainer Chad Brown and owner Rick Porter decided to stick with their original plan and point the horse toward prestigous races for 3-year-olds later in the summer. That leaves Orb, the colt co-owned by Baltimore County resident Stuart Janney III and Ogden Mills "Dinny" Pipps' stable, with only seven confirmed challengers at this point.

A single-vehicle collision in Baltimore County on the inner loop of 695 at the Pulaski Highway exit has closed the right inner loop shoulder at 9:13 a.m., on Thursday, said the state Department of Transportation. The Maryland Transit Administration is reporting minor delays on the MARC train at 9:15 a.m.

Two traffic incidents in Baltimore County have forced several lane closures during Friday morning rush hour, according to the state Department of Transportation. All lanes have been closed on Liberty Road East at the Baltimore Beltway due to a collision at 7:56 a.m., DOT said. And traffic continues to be hampered on MD 26 West near Rockdale Terrace due to a utility problem at 6:24 a.m., DOT said. The Maryland Transit Administration reported minor delays on the Metro subway and MARC train at 8:05 a.m. Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

A disabled vehicle in Baltimore City on Interstate 95 South/North at Bore 1 of the Fort McHenry Tunnel has closed one of four southbound tunnel lanes at 8:48 a.m. The Maryland Transit Administration reported minor delays on the MARC train at 9 a.m.

The Harford County Department of Public Works, has announced that Cedar Lane from the Cedar Lane Park entrance to Cedarday Drive south of Bel Air has been reopened to traffic. The road was closed in early December for construction to be completed. For further information regarding this road project, contact the Department of Public Works, Division of Construction Inspections at 410-638-3217, Ext. 2434.

We received Ken Ulman's jubilant email message regarding Money Magazine naming Columbia and Ellicott City second in the nation in their assessment of best places to live and work. Indeed, this is a great coup, well-deserved and a source of pride! However, what he didn't choose to mention is that the findings also cited a major problem here – that is, "bad traffic"! (See the red ink on page 68 of the magazine.) Mr. Ulman and the County Council, including Mary Kay Sigaty, pushed through an approval of the developer's plan for a huge increase in housing (5500 units, almost 500 per cent more than currently exist in downtown)

Traffic may be delayed at two points on I-695 this morning. The State Highway Administration reported a two-vehicle collision around 6:45 this morning at I-695 Inner Loop past Liberty Road. One Inner Loop shoulder was closed as a result. State highway officials also reported a second collision just after 7 a.m. at I-695 prior to Philadelphia Road, but no lanes were closed. jtorbati@baltsun.com twitter.com/jtorbati

Once again the Baltimore 10-miler road race shut down the city and traffic on Saturday. And once again the Maryland Transit Administration had no plan to detour buses to get around it. People couldn't get to work and were stranded. This race happens the same weekend every year, and for at least the past three years MTA did nothing but park buses until the race was over. The Sun didn't even post a story about this to warn people so they could make other plans. Steve Brand, Baltimore

An accident at St. Paul Street and Mount Royal Avenue is snarling traffic near Penn Station. As of 9 a.m. Thursday, traffic was slow on I-83 northbound near Warren Road, due to an accident. Accidents were also slowing traffic on Route 170 northbound at Route 100 in Anne Arundel County, Route 24 and Edgewood Road in Harford County, Falls Road and 36th Street in Baltimore City, Monument Street and Pulaski Highway in Baltimore City, and Route 40 westbound and Rogers Avenue in Baltimore County.

As of 7:25 a.m. Friday there are no major traffic accidents in the Baltimore area. A southbound shoulder is closed in Harford County on Interstate 95 near Exit 77 at Maryland Route 24 for a one-vehicle collision. An accident on Route 214 at Lock Haven Road in Edgewater involving a vehicle and a pole is blocking traffic. There were no major delays on Baltimore-area transit systems.

The entire undergraduate student bodies of the Johns Hopkins University and the U.S. Naval Academy combined. The population of Bel Air, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. The average attendance at a Hershey Bears hockey game (the highest in the AHL). Every one of those descriptions represents roughly 10,000 people. By any way of looking at it, that's quite a large crowd. It's also the same number of people who are killed each year in vehicle crashes involving alcohol-impaired drivers in this country.

A three-vehicle collision in Baltimore County on the inner loop of Interstate 695 at Liberty Road has closed one of four traffic lanes and the right merge lane at 8:53 a.m., according to the state Department of Transportation. Morning-long minor delays on the MARC train continued through 9 a.m., according to the Maryland Transit Administration.

Two collisions in Baltimore suburbs, including a three-vehicle collision in Anne Arundel County, have forced lane closures during Monday morning's rush hour, according to the state Department of Transportation. The three-vehicle wreck in Anne Arundel County, on the inner loop of Interstate 695 prior to the Interstate 97 exit, has closed one of three inner loop traffic lanes and one of two inner loop traffic shoulders, DOT said. The Maryland Transit Administration reported minor delays on the Metro subway at 9:05 a.m. Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Two traffic incidents in Baltimore County have forced several lane closures during Friday morning rush hour, according to the state Department of Transportation. All lanes have been closed on Liberty Road East at the Baltimore Beltway due to a collision at 7:56 a.m., DOT said. And traffic continues to be hampered on MD 26 West near Rockdale Terrace due to a utility problem at 6:24 a.m., DOT said. The Maryland Transit Administration reported minor delays on the Metro subway and MARC train at 8:05 a.m. Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Five air traffic control towers in Maryland that are part of 149 "low activity" towers nationwide will remain open through the end of the September, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday. The towers, including those at Martin State Airport in Baltimore County and Easton/Newnam Field on the Eastern Shore had been slated to close in June under federal budget cuts known as sequestration. Legislation approved by Congress last month gave the Federal Aviation Administration authority to transfer money from other accounts to keep the towers open.

Portions of Interstate 81 in Harrisburg, Pa., are expected to remain closed for several more days following a massive fuel tanker crash and explosion Thursday morning that damaged the highway and bridge, Pennsylvania transportation officials said. Northbound lanes at Exit 59 (Route 581) are blocked and the southbound interstate remains closed at Exit 70, the I-83 split. A tanker loaded with 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel flipped and exploded in a fireball that burned for 45 minutes and was so intense that it melted guardrails and the asphalt pavement, state police said.

All lanes have been closed in both directions on MD 924 in Harford County due to a four-vehicle collision, one of three incidents affecting the close of Wednesday morning's rush hour, according to the state Department of Transportation. The 8:45 a.m. collision occurred on MD 924 East/West past Patterson Mill Road, DOT said. Also in Harford County, a disabled vehicle on Interstate 95 North past the MD 152 Mountain Road exit has closed one of four northbound lanes and one of two northbound shoulders at 9 a.m., DOT said.

A disabled vehicle on Interstate 95 South prior to the White Marsh Boulevard exit in Baltimore County has now forced closure of three southbound lanes on Tuesday morning, according to the state Department of Transportation. Two of four southbound traffic lanes and one of two southbound shoulders were closed at 7:07 a.m., DOT said. Earlier, two lanes had been closed due to the obstruction. The Maryland Transit Administration reported minor delays on the Metro subway and light rail at 8:11 a.m. Also, the Baltimore City Department of Transportation said that new traffic patterns were implemented along a portion of Charles Street on Monday as the city undergoes the Phase I Detour of its Charles Street Reconstruction Project.