They were tired of waiting.
Frustrated Elkridge residents resorted to hanging their own stop signs where Golden Fern Court meets Gardenview Drive in Elkridge, after a year of asking Howard County to no avail.
“We want something done before we get the volume,” said Mary Whiting, who lives on Gardenview. “I don?t want a repeat of what happened on Mayfield.”
In recent years, cars on the nearby avenue have hit five students while they walked across the road to and from Mayfield Woods Middle School.
Residents on Gardenview Drive have been pushing for the county to install a three-way stop at an intersection that has seen more traffic, particularly vehicles that take advantage of the long stretch of road, where the speed limit is 25 mph.
“They?re speeding an average of 50 [mph], easy,” Whiting said. The recent construction of Marshalee Drive, with plans to connect it to Montgomery Road, has brought more cars to Gardenview, which dead ends into Marshalee.
Neighbors said they fear for the safety of their children.
After a year of asking the county for a stop sign, residents last week erected twosigns, one on a wood post and another attached to a lamp post.
Within 24 hours, the county had taken down the signs.
“The county says traffic doesn?t warrant it,” said Lisa Goller, Whiting?s neighbor, who obtained the stop signs.
This is a claim backed up by a speed study conducted last October.
Most drivers traveled at 31 mph or less, Howard traffic chief Mark DeLuca said.
About 400 vehicles passed the intersection each day, far fewer than the 1,000 to 1,200 that must pass to warrant action.
“I believe it?s somewhat premature, based on the numbers,” DeLuca said.
That said, people have different levels of risk tolerance, he said, so the county follows criteria for creating multiway stops, which are used to direct rights-of-way rather than for traffic calming.
Residents can request another traffic study, particularly after construction is complete on nearby Marshalee Road, which neighbors said has been the culprit for increased traffic.
