A dangerous exit ramp in Howard County where Andrew Noel, 19, died in a motorcycle crash in July should be closed until changes are made, community members told The Examiner.
“Any time a child dies, it angers a lot of people,” said Noel’s mother, Valerie Noel of Ellicott City. “This just isn’t about my son, it’s about everyone who drives here. There’s a unanimous feeling that it’s a death trap.”
Bradford K. Ely of Ellicott City and several other residents are urging State Highway Administration officials to promptly close an exit ramp from northbound Route 29 to westbound Interstate 70 that requires drivers to cross over the southbound lanes of Route 29.
State Highway officials reported 10 nonfatal traffic accidents at the intersection between when it was constructed in 2002 and 2007.
Noel’s death was the first reported fatal accident but residents believe the statistics don’t tell the whole story.
“The most important statistic is the one they don’t have — the number of near misses — and that’s the statistic that everybody knows who travels there regularly,” said Ely, whose 16-year-old son attended Mount Hebron High School with Noel.
“And then it hit me, and I thought that this could be me. I have a son just learning to drive. I just cried for a long time.”
A regular meeting between the county and the SHA is scheduled today and the issue might be discussed along with other county projects, said Chuck Gischlar, a SHA spokesman.
The SHA is now awaiting the fatal accident report from the police, and then engineers will study the road to determine what, if any, changes are made, he said.
Drivers on northbound Route 29 wanting to head west on I-70 toward Frederick can take the left exit, the one causing concerns, but drivers can also take a cloverleaf exit ramp on the right side of the road.
The left ramp is dangerous because drivers must deal with 55 mile per hour traffic and the need to make judgment calls to cross over the lanes, Ely said.
More than 100 people provided feedback on the intersection since Friday, said Candace Dodson-Reed, the community liaison for Howard County. Countless others have signed petitions, she said.
“It’s a state road, but we feel it’s our responsibility to take what people are saying and get it to the appropriate people,” she said. “Most people feel there’s something that needs to be done.”
Ely has drafted letters for local businesses to post in pledge of their support for changes at the intersection.
“The responsibility for [Valerie Noel’s] son’s death lies with all of us in the greater Mount Hebron community,” Ely said. “Each and every one of us from Day One knew that this is an extremely dangerous intersection. We will continue to cry out until problems with this lethal intersection is resolved.”
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