Members of the Baltimore County Council voted this week to upgrade a failing traffic intersection, lifting a building moratorium and upsetting Parkville residents fed up with congestion.
In adopting its annual list of failing intersections ? where congestion is so bad the county withholds building permits for development ? the council ignored activists who urged the inclusion of the Joppa and Harford roads intersection.
“We?ve been advocating for months for this, so I?m shocked,” said Ruth Baisden, president of the Greater Parkville Community Council. “Now the intersection doesn?t take priority, and it?s really taking steps backward in addressing congestion in our community and cut-through traffic.”
Councilman Joe Bartenfelder, D-District 6, whose district includes the intersection, said he supported the residents and asked other members to table a vote when all could be present, according to Baisden. Two council members didn?t attend Tuesday?s noon legislative session.
An attorney representing the developer testified at a council work session last week in favor of ranking the intersection a “D,” as the county?s chief traffic engineer, Darrell Wiles, recommended. Without an upgrade, the development could not progress, he said.
The community has raised concerns with the county?s current rating methodology, a 1960s-era technique tracking how many cars get through a green light in one cycle. Under the state?s method, Baisden said, the intersection is failing. The council has asked the county planning board to study alternative methods.
Councilman Vince Gardina, D-District 5, whose district line abuts the intersection but who was absent from the vote, said he met with the developer and the 23-home proposal won?t “have much of an impact” on traffic. He said he supported the traffic engineers? recommendation.
“I don?t know which is better and someone will have to make that decision,” Gardina said. “But it shouldn?t be made by the County Council.”
