The Carroll County board of commissioners has agreed on transportation priorities for Carroll County.

Carroll County Bureau of Planning Chief Daphne Daly explained that county representatives met with each municipality to discuss transportation priorities. The following projects have been deemed priorities by the county and will be submitted to the State Highway Administration for consideration.

MD 32 (MD 26 south to Carroll County line)

This project is listed as the county's top priority for New Highway Capacity. The project includes widening the roadway from two to four lanes and adding bicycle and pedestrian facilities in some areas. According to the county, MD 32 is a heavily traveled commuter route, linking Carroll County with I-70 and the Baltimore-Washington region. Improvements in this corridor are needed to ease communter congestion and increase access to employment areas.

MD 97 (south of Pleasant Valley Road to MD 140 in Westminster)

This project is listed as the county's second priority for New Highway Capacity. The project includes widening the roadway from three to five lanes, a full interchange (all turns and traffic movements are possible) at Meadow Branch Road and adding bicycle/pedestrian facilities. According to county documents, this portion of MD 97 handles a significant amount of commuter traffic from the northern part of the county and Pennsylvania. 

MD 140 Reconstruction Project (Sullivan Road to Market Street)

The project is the county's top priority for Design and Engineering. The project includes widening the roadway from six to eight lanes, with a full interchange MD 97 and continuous flow intersections at Center Street and Englar Road, along with pedestrian and bike facilities. The county said this portion of MD 140 is the most heavily traveled segment of roadway in the county.

MD 30 Main Street in Hampstead

This project is the county's top priority for neighborhood conservation. The completion of the Hampstead Bypass removed a significant amount of through traffic from the downtown area. This project would begin to restore the town's historic Main Street to an attractive and pedestrian-friendly urban local roadway according to a county document. The project would include improvements to sidewalks, crosswalks, signal timing and travel lanes.

MD 31 New Windsor Main Street/High Street Revitalization

Approximately 10 years ago, the town of New Windsor worked with State Highway Administration to develop a streetscape plan for MD 31, which includes Main Street and High Street. The streetscape project was stopped in 2002, when project funding ended. New Windsor wants to continue the preliminary engineering phase of this project, which will result in improvements to sidewalks, streetscaping, pedestrian crossings, and roadway improvements.

MD 851 Sykesville Main Street/Springfield Avenue

MD 32 handles most of the through traffic, bypassing the downtown area. this project would involve roadway reconstruction and improvements to pedestrian and bicycle facilities, as well as inclusion of streetscaping features. It will help to restore the town's historic Main Street.

MD 30 Manchester Congestion Relief

MD 30 through the town of Manchester experiences heavy traffic volumes during the morning and evening rush hour due to heavy commuter traffic. A bypass around the town has been planned for many years but, the county recognizes that funding for the bypass likely won't be avaialble for some time. The project now calls for a study of the specific causes of congestion and the critical choke points and to identify a set of solutions that can be pursued incrementally or collectively as funding and timing allows.

The information in this article was taken from a document distributed at a commissioner open meeting session.