Traffic

The last man to take a horse to Belmont with a chance to snag the elusive final gem in the Triple Crown has some advice for Doug O'Neill. Stay true to the horse. "I think trainers going around asking other people what they should do, looking for how to handle it, that's stupid," Rick Dutrow, trainer of Big Brown in 2008, said in a phone interview Sunday. "It's got to be about your horse. Whatever anybody else did doesn't matter. You know your horse. " O'Neill, trainer of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another, has already disregarded common wisdom over the past three weeks.

As of 8:30 a.m. Thursday, traffic was slow on U.S. 50 westbound at the Capital Beltway, due to an accident involving six vehicles. According to the Maryland Transit Administration, light rail service is suspended between the Timonium and Hunt Valley stations due to construction work. A shuttle bus service is available instead. There are no other major delays reported on Baltimore area transit systems.

All along, they had been so relaxed. So when it came time for Team O'Neill's horse to make his charge -- a historic one -- the colt moved forward almost nonchalantly. I'll Have Another glided past Bodemeister to win the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course, setting up a chance at the first Triple Crown since 1978. The California-based horse is the 12th to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown since Affirmed edged Alydar in all three races.

A Maryland Transportation Authority police officer's traffic stop in October netted more than $120,000 in cash for the agency and federal government.  Last week, federal prosecutors initiated formal forfeiture proceedings to claim the cash, recovered when a corporal pulled over a Hertz rental vehicle travelling southbound on I-95 in Baltimore County in October.  According to court documents, the vehicle was pulled over for traveling 65...

Albert Lord doesn't like to wait - not in business or on the golf course. The colorful chairman of student loan behemoth Sallie Mae, who's embroiled in a nasty fight over the failed sale of the company, has spent 40 years in the accounting and banking industries. He said that experience should have instilled in him a measure of patience, but it hasn't. Whether in traffic, at the office or on the links, Lord said, he just doesn't like to wait. He can't do much about the first two, but he's got a sure-fire solution for the last one: He's building his own, an 18-hole golf course on land he's acquired amid shuttered tobacco farms and grazing horses in southern Anne Arundel County.

The first of the travel season's "go early, go late" advisories for the Bay Bridge is in effect this weekend as thousands of visitors head for Springfest 2012 in Ocean City . The Maryland Transportation Authority said motorists should avoid high traffic volume Thursday through Sunday by traveling to the annual spring block party during off-peak hours. If eastbound traffic conditions warrant it, the westbound span will operate with two-way traffic. The best times to travel this weekend are: Thursday before 2 p.m. and after 10 p.m.; Friday before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m.; Saturday before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m.; Sunday before 11 a.m. and after 10 p.m. Officials note that full westbound bridge closures, with two-way traffic on the eastbound span, are scheduled during overnight hours Thursday, Friday and Saturday to accommodate maintenance work.

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)

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.

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

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

As of 9 a.m., traffic was slow on Route 295 southbound at Route 195 in Anne Arundel County, due to an accident involving three vehicles. Debris in the road was slowing traffic on Falls Road near Shawan Road in Baltimore County. The Maryland Transit Administration is warning passengers to expect delays on the light rail line from Cromwell to Hunt Valley. The 9:28 a.m. trip from Cromwell has been canceled. Light rail service is suspended between the Timonium and Hunt Valley stations due to construction work.

The State Highway Administration has begun a $1 million resurfacing project along a mile stretch of York Road between Towsontown Boulevard and Stevenson Lane in Towson, which officials said is designed to improve safety and traffic flow. Crews are upgrading sections of curb, gutter, sidewalk and ramps to meet current Americans with Disabilities Act standards. The project also includes cleaning and repairing inlets and drainage pipes; and installing underground and overhead traffic detectors at intersections where needed.

The Baltimore police officer who was thrown over the side of Interstate 83 and fell 20 feet after a car crashed into her vehicle as she helped a stranded motorist has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the driver and the owner of the vehicle. The driver, 23-year-old Robert R. Vanderford, is scheduled to appear in District Court this week for a trial on traffic charges related to the June 21, 2011, incident. The charges include failure to control vehicle speed to avoid a collision, failure to reduce speed in dangerous weather and driving while his license was suspended in another state.

A routine traffic stop in Annapolis on Monday led to the discovery of a large stash of heroin and three arrests, police said in a Friday news release. The 80.3 grams of heroin seized, which would have been worth $16,000 on the street, were not found in the vehicle stopped but in a rental vehicle parked nearby, police said. The woman and two men arrested were all from Annapolis. According to police, officers first stopped a bright green Lincoln in the 1100 block of Medgar Evers Street for undisclosed traffic violations at about 4:40 p.m., and discovered the driver, Deon Matthews, 20, had a suspended license.

As of 9 a.m. Thursday, traffic was slow on the inner loop of I-695 near Reisterstown Road, due to an accident. Accidents were slowing traffic on I-695 at the Curtis Creek Drawbridge in Baltimore County, Oliver Street and Milton Avenue in Baltimore City, and Darien Drive and Parkland Place in Glen Burnie. A disabled vehicle was blocking traffic on U.S. 50 westbound at the Bay Bridge. Debris in the road was blocking traffic on I-95 northbound at Route 100 in Howard County.

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, traffic was slow on Route 543 at Prospect Mill Road in Harford County, due to an accident. Light rail service is suspended between the Timonium and Hunt Valley stations due to construction work. A shuttle bus service is available instead. There are no other delays reported on Baltimore area transit systems.

Baltimore City cuts down 139 trees, and then calls its grand prix road race "green"? Inconveniences thousands of motorists whose cars idle while they wait to get where they're going, then says the event is "carbon-neutral"? ("Race aims to be 'green,' but challenges remain," Sept. 2). The pinheads who created this monstrosity and foisted it off on Baltimore and the citizens of Maryland (who no doubt are helping pay for it) should be forced to spend a day breathing in the fumes from all the traffic backed up at the Camden Yards off-ramp.

Today, there are going to be major traffic delays in Baltimore County for the funeral procession for a Baltimore City police officer who was killed in a traffic accident. My heart cries out to his family. Every day he and his fellow officers put their lives on the line to protect us from harm and keep us safe. I couldn't respect these public servants any more than I already do, but I think it's ridiculous to paralyze a portion of the beltway as well as other roads causing havoc to drivers.