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Rt. 22 problems

Posted 3/02/11

The two serious traffic accidents last Wednesday on Route 22 between Churchville and the east side of Bel Air are illustrative of two points worth making about traffic issues in Harford County.

First, the section of Route 22 between Aberdeen and the intersection with Route 543 long has been in dire need of substantial upgrades.

It’s a heavily traveled section of roadway, as it links two populations with the educational complex that includes Harford Tech School and Harford Community College.

Commuters who live in the Greater Bel Air area and work on Aberdeen Proving Ground also use it. All are painfully aware of the congestion that plagues the roadway.

There is a substantial problem, however, associated with the kinds of major improvement that would be needed to make Route 22 more suitable for the kind of traffic it handles. The Catch-22 of planning and land use policy in Maryland is that a major improvement to a highway is often used as the reason for up-zoning the surrounding land.

In other words, road improvements that fix today’s traffic problems are used to justify creating tomorrow’s traffic problems.

The second key point when it comes to the traffic accidents along Route 22, or anywhere else, for that matter, is that many could be prevented.

Of course, it’s easy to lose sight of safety when you’re stuck in a traffic jam and you’d rather be home, or on time for work.

A key priority for Harford County and the state legislators who represent it in Annapolis (as Route 22 is a state road) should be improving Route 22 while taking proactive action to prevent it from becoming a springboard for more development.

One way to do accomplish both is to keep water and sewer service from being extended into the Route 22 corridor.

Even with that, it will take substantial vigilance to improve Route 22 today without having it become just as overcrowded tomorrow.