York Road

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.

A Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge on Thursday set bail at $50,000, cash only, for two operators of the Healthy Life Medical Group, on York Road, in Lutherville, who were arrested Tuesday evening. Gerald Wiseberg, 78, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Michael Jacob Reznikov, 51, of Brooklyn, N.Y., have been indicted by a Baltimore County grand jury on charges of conspiracy to distribute "schedule II" narcotics after a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into alleged distribution and sale of Oxycodone and other prescription drugs.

The State Highway Administration will be starting a $14.6 million project next month to widen and resurface York Road between Cavan Drive and Ridgely Road in the Lutherville area, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s office announced yesterday. SHA will improve traffic safety by providing a new center turn lane along this one-mile section of York Road, officials said. At the same time, the Baltimore County Department of Public Works will install a new 24-inch water main under the southbound lanes of York Road.

An unidentified person was killed in a two-vehicle accident last night on York Road in Cockeysville, according to Baltimore County police. The individual was driving a car north on York Road and tried to take a left into the Church Lane Shopping Center, in the 10000 block of York Road, about 7 p.m., said Cpl. Jim Elliott, a department spokesman. The driver then collided with a Mazda pickup truck traveling south on York Road. The driver of the car was transported to Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and was later pronounced dead, Elliott said.

A Monkton man died and a 19-year-old woman was critically injured early yesterday when her speeding car veered off York Road in Sparks and crashed into a tree, a Baltimore County traffic officer said.The accident occurred about 1 a.m. in the 15000 block of York Road. Scott A. Cox, 28, a front-seat passenger in the 1981 Nissan Maxima, was thrown from the car as it swerved from the northbound lane, Officer George Neumeister said. The speeding car slammed into a tree on the opposite side of the road and split in half -- trapping the driver, Diana L. Price, until fire rescuers arrived.

The Golden Arm restaurant, which opened when Baltimore football fans lived and died with quarterback Johnny Unitas and the Colts, has been sacked, bringing tears to the eyes of some of its regulars.The restaurant that Mr. Unitas and defensive back Bobby Boyd founded in York Road Plaza 26 years ago will close March 17, blitzed by a Giant Food store expansion, a complicated parking problem, and shopping center economics."I feel sorry for the many elderly people who depend on this restaurant," owner Bill Grauel said.

On-street nighttime parking will continue along York Road in the heart of Towson, boosting business leaders' hopes of revitalizing the struggling downtown district.After a long-awaited traffic study, the State Highway Administration said recently that the 15 to 20 parking spaces on York Road between Chesapeake and Pennsylvania avenues are not causing congestion and should not be eliminated during the evening hours.The study was initiated by the SHA after motorists complained about congestion along that section of state-maintained York Road, which is home to a number of restaurants and stores.

Fewer traffic tie-ups on York Road are expected after today's opening of a new exit off Interstate 83.Shortly after evening rush hour, state officials are scheduled to open the 1.5-mile-long extension of Warren Road from York Road to I-83 in Cockeysville.The $17.5 million project includes a partial interchange with the highway and a 350-space park-and-ride lot.This latest interchange will permit motorists to travel north on I-83 and then east on Warren Road, or west on Warren Road and south on I-83.

To stem the flood of traffic along York Road -- the conduit to jobs, shopping and entertainment throughout northern Baltimore County -- state and county officials have tried every planning and traffic management trick imaginable.They have widened the road and tinkered with traffic lights. They have built new interchanges and constructed a light rail line. And they have rejected proposals for large commercial developments.But little has changed. Like other suburban roads such as Ritchie Highway, Liberty Road, Reisterstown Road, U.S. 40 and Belair Road, York Road has become increasingly clogged and dangerous amid the inexorable crush of suburbia.