State and county officials announced Wednesday they have begun work on safety improvements to Route 32 between I-70 and the Carroll County line, the site of a fatal collision last Thursday.

The announcement came after a phone call County Executive Kenneth Ulman made to Gov. Martin O’Malley within hours of the collision, asking that safety improvements be made as soon as possible.

The announcement also followed years of complaints from local residents, who noted last week that the most recent fatality was not the first on that stretch of Route 32.

The projects are expected to last through the fall and will cost the State Highway Administration between $400,000 and $500,000, said Valerie Burnette Edgar an SHA spokeswoman.

Ulman praised the measures.
 
“While we can’t undo the terrible tragedies that have occurred in the past, the planned improvements will make the road safer and lessen the future risk to drivers on this busy highway,” Ulman said in a statement.
 
Improvements to be made immediately include: putting up signs warning of left-turning traffic at several intersections on Route 32; closing some passing zones near key intersections; and, deploying “speed trailers” in the area, to remind drivers how fast they are driving.

The immediate safety provisions are expected to take about two weeks, Burnette Edgar said. Some of the signs were already installed on Tuesday, she said.

Projects to be undertaken over the fall include re-striping Route 32 at key intersections to provide separate turn lanes and increasing the width of the center line and edge line markings to increase their visibility.

The fatal collision last Thursday occurred shortly before 5:30 p.m., when Brian Edgar Emery, 49, was stopped in his car on northbound Route 32, waiting to make a left turn onto Amberwoods Way. While waiting, Emery was struck from behind by a Chevrolet Express Van, according to police, and his car was knocked across the double line, where it was hit by a southbound Dodge pickup truck.
 
Emery, of the 1200 block of Forest Creek Court, in Sykesville, was pronounced dead on the scene.

The driver of the van, identified by police as Thomas Donald Cory, 55, of Marriottsville, was not injured. The driver of the pickup truck, identified by police as Robert Lewis Wyscarver, 40, of Ellicott City, was taken to Howard County General Hospital with minor injuries.

Police said they are still investigating the accident and charges are pending.

Last week’s fatal collision only intensified long-standing concern about the dangers of driving that stretch of Route 32.

In July, hundreds of area residents met with state highway officials and local representatives to air their complaints. That meeting followed a June 23 crash at the intersection of Route 32 and River Road that killed 13-year-old Vincent Dasung Woodward and his mother, Kyong Hae “Jennifer” Kim.

Howard Blackman, a community organizer, who started the Web site, makeroute32safe.com, to lobby for improvements to the road, said in a previous interview that the restriping of Route 32 to allow for a separate turn lane at Amberwoods way would have likely prevented the collision. Blackman was not available for comment Wednesday.

Del. Warren Miller, a Woodbine Republican whose district includes the area of last Thursday’s fatal collision, said the improvements were better late than never, but still fell short.
 
“It’s nice that they’re getting around to trying to make Route 32 safe, but it’s unfortunate that we had to have yet another fatality to get here,” he said. “We’ve been beating the drums on how unsafe Route 32 is for a long time.”

Miller said he would like the state to limit the access points onto the road and make entering and exiting the road safer.

“It’s a nice near-term step,” he said of the planned improvements, “but it’s not going to be enough, in my opinion, to make the road safe.”

Fixing Route 32

Following last week's fatal collision on Route 32, the State Highway Administration is implementing steps designed to make the portion of the road north of Interstate 70 safer.

Starting immediately, SHA will:

* Install three warning signs on Route 32 to display a message saying "Pay Attention -- Watch for Left Turning Traffic;"

* Install intersection warning signs (symbols showing a left turn) at River Road, Amberwoods Way and Day Road;

* Install rumble strips in the travel lane approximately 500 feet prior to River Road, Amberwoods Way and Day Road;

* Close passing zones and replace with a solid center line near River Road, Amberwoods Way and Day Road; and,

* Deploy speed trailers showing oncoming traffic how fast it is going.

In the fall, SHA will:

* Restripe Route 32 at River Road, Amberwoods Way and Day Road to provide left-turn lanes at each of those intersections;

* Increase the width of center line and edge line markings to increase visibility; and,

* Continue to collect traffic data and evaluate potential traffic safety enhancements for other intersections.

Source: State Highway Administration

---

user comments (11)

user independent says...

Fatalities occur when the land development outpaces infrastructure requirements. Today it's Rt. 32, but pending are Rt. 144 in Ellicott City and the Walgreen's site in Columbia.

Posted 1:34 PM, 09.16.09 | Permalink

user belovedcartoonmouse says...

Agreed. The majority of Howard County roads are old country roads not designed for the traffic and speed given the population in this area. Either the government steps up to make these roads wider and safer, or we live with increased traffic, accidents and fatalities.

Posted 4:01 PM, 09.16.09 | Permalink

user lisbonite says...

This would all be moot if everyone just slowed down on the roads. We don't need the roads to be wider, we need them to be narrower. With speed bumps. Regardless, I don't see how signs and being made aware of your own speed is going to make one bit of difference. If you aren't paying attention to the road, signs will not help. Drivers shouldn't need reminders that they're driving fast. Increase the fines and points. Increase the patrols and speed cameras. If you speed, if you disrespect the lives of others that share the road, be prepared to fork over lots of money or a few nights in jail.

Posted 5:29 PM, 09.16.09 | Permalink

user belovedcartoonmouse says...

The solution to Route 32 is not speed bumps and a lower speed limit. Whether people like it or not, Route 32 is no longer a residential, rural road. It is a major traffic artery and has been for over a decade. It needs to be treated as such. Speed is not the issue, variation in speed is. You don't slow down or make a left hand turn off of 29 or 95. The same should be true of 32.

Posted 6:01 PM, 09.16.09 | Permalink

user lionroar88 says...

Adding speed bumps on Rt32 would make it more dangerous and result in HUGE delays when emergency responders are responding to calls. What needs to happen is widening 32 to 2 lanes each direction with a median. Closing some access points and building 'feeder' roads between roads that have their access points closed. You then build interchanges at the new access points. The biggest problem would then be the multiple traffic lights along the route, many of these need to be eliminated - especially the first light in Sykesville. It would also be smart for Maryland to look into syncronizing the lights so they reduce the number of stops along the route. Need an example - look at the Linden Church Road intersection with Rte 32. During morning rush hour the traffic backs all the way to Burntwoods Rd! That is simply not acceptable for this area.

Posted 11:26 AM, 09.17.09 | Permalink

user belovedcartoonmouse says...

Everything Lionroar88 said is absolutely correct and has been for over 10 years. The problem is that his/her ideas make too much sense. Therefore, these reasonable and appropriate measures shall not be taken.

Posted 11:57 AM, 09.17.09 | Permalink

user foxvalleyguy says...

Lion and Mouse, you are both spot on. I'm a relative newcomer to the area, and I'm amazed that they let me make a left turn out of River Valley Chase (the entrance to Fox Valley) onto what feels like an interstate. The work done on Pfefferkorn and Ten Oaks to 1) get rid of that annoying traffic light and 2) give on and off ramps to Rt. 32, was BRILLIANT. I use that feeder road between Ten Oaks and Pfefferkorn every single day to avoid 32. It's not the speed of the cars - it's how I have to go from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds to keep from getting run over that's at issue. And by the way, have you tried coming northbound on 32 at the speed limit and then slamming on the brakes to use the ANEMIC LEFT TURN LANE onto River Valley Chase?? Try it some time. You can almost hear the people behind you hurling obscenities. It's ridiculous to brake that rapidly on a road like 32.

Posted 2:09 PM, 09.22.09 | Permalink

user independent says...

The government via taxpayers does not need to pay for infrastructure alone, belovedmouse. Land developers that profit from increasing density to dangerous levels should be required to contribute sensible amounts as well.

Posted 2:29 PM, 09.22.09 | Permalink

user foxvalleyguy says...

independent, the developers pay impact fees and agree to all manner of proffers in order to obtain building permits. When people lament the lack of "affordable housing" in the area, it's interesting to note that part of the cost of housing is the developers paying for exactly this type of infrastructure. One can argue that the cost is passed along to us, so we can either pay more for our houses, pay more taxes, or both. Right now it seems to me that we're paying on both ends.

Posted 5:50 PM, 09.22.09 | Permalink

user belovedcartoonmouse says...

To call the population density in western Howard County "dangerous" is quite an overstatement. The dangerous thing about western Howard County is all the small, windy and overcrowded roads. Either we deal with them, or we continue the status quo of traffic, accidents and deaths. As for passing the cost onto the developers, don't think Howard County doesn't enjoy the property taxes on another million dollar home.

Posted 7:46 PM, 09.22.09 | Permalink

user independent says...

Roads were not too curvy or too narrow or too fast or this deadly until the residential development was added up to current levels. It's not difficult to see in the immediate future what will happen following these additions. As for safety, there are hundreds who live there who disagree with you, belovedmouse. See makeroute32safe.com.

Posted 7:16 AM, 09.23.09 | Permalink