About 110 angry residents of Baltimore County?s Halethorpe community packed a meeting hall Monday night, demanding to know why a partially collapsed road in their neighborhood has not been fixed for months.
They said a portion of Ingate Road collapsed in March and is virtually impassable for the 412-home Riverchase community. Residents said the road is the latest in a series of problems since the complex was built on loose soil in 1987. Paving contractor Don Ross said he turned down the road project.
“We didn?t want to be liable for any damage, which is happening right now,” Ross said. “This is a Baltimore County responsibility. It should not be passed on to Riverchase.”
Residents called the situation “unacceptable,” accusing county public works officials of ignoring symptoms for years and faulting them for issuing development permits.
But Steven Walsh, chief of the county?s road design division, said they?ve explored solutions for about 18 months. Walsh told residents the most promising solution calls for a $1 million, 10-foot “mechanically stabilized” earth wall, which he said might not be ready for one year.
“We?ll put a temporary road in if necessary,” Walsh said. “We?re not going to isolate any home from the rest of the neighborhood. We?re not going to leave the community out in the lurch.”
County public works spokesman David Fidler acknowledged the road has presented a “headache” for years. It collapsed in roughly the same spot about five years ago and the county has poured “tons and tons” of asphalts into repairs since, he said.
Members of the Riverchase Condominium Association board said ground-level units have flooded, which they also attributed to soil issues and the former mine on the site. Several townhomes in the community nearly collapsed several years ago, they said.
