MD 75 is the “spine” of District 2. It was the focus of development approvals by the last BoCC and is a central issue going forward. MD 75 is a State “highway” but it’s also a winding, hilly, 2-lane country road. County planners tell us that the roadway should be rebuilt to accommodate the developments that were approved in the area. The cost estimates have ranged from $140 million to $500 million, depending on the mix of improved two-lane or four-lane segments. Until a design study is completed, we won’t know how much it will cost. What we do know is that the State has been saying for years that it doesn’t have the money for the project. So why were all the developments approved? The answer is, they shouldn’t have been.
Avoiding the Bottleneck at Hyattstown Even if the money was there to do all this work on MD 75, it wouldn’t make any sense unless the bottom portion of the road at Hyattstown is also fixed. There is a long-term study involving I-270 and MD 15 which includes a concept to reroute MD 75 from Lewisdale Road to a new I-270 interchange. That will be very expensive and is anybody’s guess when (or if) it ever gets done. Expanding MD 75 without this project also being completed will be pointless and lead to massive back-ups at MD 355.
Impact to the Community Fundamentally, I oppose these major road upgrades because of how it would impact this part of the County. Setting aside the taxpayer funding issues, if the State rebuilds MD 75 there would be no limiting the trucks and other traffic on the road. The State wouldn’t allow it. That road would be Frederick’s eastern bypass for trucks needing to go from I-70 to I-270 south. It will completely change the traffic on the road, with more trucks and cars, and all of them going faster. People living along the road will be severely impacted. It will make it dangerous to simply enter and exit their driveways. That’s not all. Upgrading MD 75 would also certainly bring more development along the road. Councilman Tony Chmelik has championed this vision for MD 75 – but not me. There may come a day when we need a four-lane MD 75, but it’ll be a sad day and one that I’m not looking forward to.
Spot Improvements So what do we do? I support the idea of spot safety improvements along the road, similar to what was done at the intersection of Ed McClain and MD 75. The County should assess where they can make meaningful improvements - focusing on safety, not throughput - and seek limited State funds for those projects, using the developer-funded MD 75 Corridor Improvement fund as seed money. Under this concept, I think priority intersections to address would be Lawson Rd, Cook Brothers Rd, and Lewisdale Rd. I don't know what specifically should be done at these locations, but they should be studied for line of sight improvement and, possibly, traffic calming measures.
CSX Bridge That leaves two major issues: the CSX bridge and the Libertytown intersection of MD 75 and MD 26. There's really no good solution for the CSX bridge problem other than rerouting and rebuilding MD 75, and that would only occur as part of a full rebuild of MD 75. I've noted my concerns about that. In the interim, I've always supported more and better signs, higher fines and the truck turn-arounds. I worked with Delegate Kathy Afzali to get higher fines for trucks violating the restrictions on MD 75. I also participated in the initial working meetings to coordinate the State, County, and COSTCO to build truck turn-arounds. Thanks to County Executive Gardner, one truck turn-around has been completed, and the County expects the turn-around on the north side of the bridge to be completed this year. One thing has become clear through all of this, we need the Sheriff and State Police to enforce the current truck restrictions, and we need judges to actually levy the fines. Libertytown The Libertytown intersection has been a problem for years. It’s a tight turn and trucks routinely damage the corner buildings. Heavy metal bollards installed a few years ago have lessened the property damage but when trucks get hung up on the bollards, that causes a different kind of mess. A prior Comprehensive Plan alignment for a bypass road was ignored by the last BoCC when they approved several developments in the area. The County is currently seeking preliminary planning funds for a partial bypass, connecting MD 550 to MD 75 to the north of town. If there is room and they can purchase the land, that makes sense to me.