Time and time again, light poles are smashed along a curve on Harper?s Farm Road near Twin Rivers Road in Columbia.
“We monitor accidents and get police reports and keep an eye on locations that have high numbers of recurring accidents,” said Diane Schwarzman, chief of the Howard County?s Traffic Engineering Division.
“Here, at Harper?s Farm Road, it was the same thing happening over and over again.”
What Schwarzman and others noticed were one-vehicle accidents in the same location when the vehicle would skid, lose control and strike objects ? mostly the light poles.
Sometimes, alcohol contributed to the accidents, she said.
Schwarzman gathered suggestions at a Wednesday meeting in Columbia from residents about improvements, including adding speed bumps to traffic signals to guardrails.
She shared results of a 2007 study from a consultant who evaluated the alignment of the road and found that excess speed was a problem along the road, she said.
The study concluded that the curve in the road resulted in six reported accidents in 2004 and eight in 2005 as well as 2006, she said.
“When driverslose control, they hit everything off the road, including light poles,” she said.
The problem isn?t really the distance of the light poles from the road, but rather speed, she said.
County officials are exploring two options for the road, estimated to cost between $150,000 and $275,0000: modifying the cross slope on the curve by building up the road so it?s higher, or making the curve longer, she said.
“It?s just the way the road?s aligned,” said Caryn Lasser, assistant to Councilwoman Mary Kay Sigaty, D-District 4.
“People can?t negotiate the lane well.”
Following the meeting, Schwarzman said the comments justified further study of the road. It?s unknown when a final decision will be made.
