Here?s another sign of the growth in this region. On Monday, the state opened a new operations center in Frederick, a location that I would have thought needed one simply because of its proximity to Baltimore and Washington. This operation is designated TOC 7 and will link into the main CHART facility near Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Hanover. It is from these centers that much of the states coordinated operations take place, and having one in Frederick should speed response times in a good many emergencies. With all the growth north of Frederick, I imagine this office will be one of the busier ones that the state operates.
My son had a baseball tournament in what we used to call “Cornfield County” last weekend and I was amazed at the sizeof many of the roads and interchanges. Carroll County seems to be one of the few places that has planned for growth ahead of time. The state is spending $85 million to construct a six-mile western bypass around the town of Hampstead. This project has been planned for 20 years, but the money is just now available and will be used to alleviate backups on Route 30. I know that this won?t have an impact on many of you but I find it interesting to see where money gets spent and on which projects in an election cycle.
David writes in with an interesting perspective that I doubt many of us had thought of: “Hey, maybe it?s time to start teasing people about driving too much. There?s nothing really smart about the Smart car, anyway, is there? It?s more of the same. People need to be challenged sometimes about what they think is normal behavior.
“Isn?t it starting to become apparent that only losers have to drive everywhere? I mean, who would set up their life so that it revolves around moving four, five, or even 6,000 pounds everywhere they go for every single transaction, major or minor? Cup of coffee? Move 4,000 pounds there and back. Need a shirt or a new pair of pants that weigh in at less than one pound? Move 4,000 pounds to the store and back. Nothing odd or excessive about that, right? I think you catch my drift.
“See, people are not even physically aware anymore of the actions they are taking. Let?s remind them what they are really doing and the laws of physics that must be overcome to actually do it. Ask your readers to move a wheel barrel around with 1,000 pounds of rocks in it one day per year, everywhere they go, so that they will be reminded of the energy it takes to move humongous vehicles, the size of small bedrooms, everywhere they go.”
That?s a truly interesting perspective David. I suppose if we had to hitch up the wagon to a team of horses anytime we wanted to go somewhere we?d think twice. The ability to jump in andgo makes the car very attractive despite the laws of physics.
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to [email protected].
