You have to love government....
I live in Clarksburg, Maryland in a relatively new home, less than 3 years old. There is still plenty of construction going on. New homes and new roads and new everything are making for plenty of congestion and "growing pains".
One of those "growing pains" is at the intersection of Gateway Center Drive and Stringtown Road. Stringtown is an east-west road that runs into I-270 at exit 18. Gateway Center Drive runs North-South and crosses Stringtown. At the northern end of Gateway Center Drive is Clarksburg Road.
Before Stringtown Road was extended to I-270, Clarksburg Road used to run all the way to I-270. Now, Clarksburg Road ends at Gateway Center Drive. To get to I-270, you need to make a left onto Gateway Center Drive and then a right onto Stringtown Road.
This is where we have a potential problem. You see, there are 2 lanes that go south on Gateway Center Drive from Clarksburg Road. At Stringtown, there will be a left turn lane and 2 through lanes. So, if there is a car in the right land going straight, the "right on red" is taken out of the traffic equation. Since most of the traffic off of Clarksburg Road going southbound is headed for 270, this can be a real slow spot in the commute. Also, we've had times when MD 355 has been loaded with bail out traffic from I-270 when there is an incident in the morning rush hour.
I called the Montgomery County Highway Department and asked them if they would make the right lane a "right turn only" lane. I explained it all to a nice man on the phone. I was told that I would need to make a written submission so that a study could be done. I explained that I live there and drive the route and that I had done an informal study and this seemed like a no-brainer. Not good enough.
So, in the end, I submitted my request for a traffic study to be done so that the intersection could better handle the traffic flow. More wasted taxpayer money on a study that in my opinion is a waste of time. It's been a couple of months and I'm still waiting to see what happens.
One final thought, wouldn't you think that the people who designed the road would have anticipated this and had better road markings from the beginning? In the big scheme of happenings in Clarksburg, I suppose this is minor, but it does go to underscore some of the deficiencies in any government project, even when it comes to the obvious.
One of those "growing pains" is at the intersection of Gateway Center Drive and Stringtown Road. Stringtown is an east-west road that runs into I-270 at exit 18. Gateway Center Drive runs North-South and crosses Stringtown. At the northern end of Gateway Center Drive is Clarksburg Road.
Before Stringtown Road was extended to I-270, Clarksburg Road used to run all the way to I-270. Now, Clarksburg Road ends at Gateway Center Drive. To get to I-270, you need to make a left onto Gateway Center Drive and then a right onto Stringtown Road.
This is where we have a potential problem. You see, there are 2 lanes that go south on Gateway Center Drive from Clarksburg Road. At Stringtown, there will be a left turn lane and 2 through lanes. So, if there is a car in the right land going straight, the "right on red" is taken out of the traffic equation. Since most of the traffic off of Clarksburg Road going southbound is headed for 270, this can be a real slow spot in the commute. Also, we've had times when MD 355 has been loaded with bail out traffic from I-270 when there is an incident in the morning rush hour.
I called the Montgomery County Highway Department and asked them if they would make the right lane a "right turn only" lane. I explained it all to a nice man on the phone. I was told that I would need to make a written submission so that a study could be done. I explained that I live there and drive the route and that I had done an informal study and this seemed like a no-brainer. Not good enough.
So, in the end, I submitted my request for a traffic study to be done so that the intersection could better handle the traffic flow. More wasted taxpayer money on a study that in my opinion is a waste of time. It's been a couple of months and I'm still waiting to see what happens.
One final thought, wouldn't you think that the people who designed the road would have anticipated this and had better road markings from the beginning? In the big scheme of happenings in Clarksburg, I suppose this is minor, but it does go to underscore some of the deficiencies in any government project, even when it comes to the obvious.
posted by Howard Bernstein, 9 Weather Now at
9:12 AM
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