The real cost of not building the connector

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The primary benefit of the cross-county connector is that it will absorb most of the traffic that currently uses old Billingsley Road.

I could argue that the cross-county connector has been on the books for years; that it's designed to connect the county's designated development district to Waldorf; that it will control, in a safer and more environmentally sound manner, access to any new development in that part of the county; or that environmentally friendly construction practices have matured to the point that the environmental impact of building the connector will be minimal.

But I think the only argument that has to be made is to simply count the number of school buses that travel the old section of Billingsley Road. I don't know what the grand total is, but I've seen as many as six or seven at one time.

The old section of Billingsley Road is one of the most dangerous roads if not the most dangerous road in the county. I travel on it at least twice a day every day. I've seen cars alongside the road in ditches. I've watched cars spinning out of control on many of the winding hills. I drive past the roadside memorials to loved ones. I have a neighbor with a section of fence that gets taken out at least once a month. Quite often the offending vehicle comes from the opposite side of the road. And the traffic continues to increase.

I know that people will argue we should just make it safer. Well, you won't make it safer with warning signs. To be safer it has to be wider and straighter. I contend that cannot be done to the current road in a manner that would be any less environmentally or economically disruptive than building a new road. If you don't believe me, drive it.

So what's the real cost of not building the cross-county connector? One of these days there will be a school bus upside down at the bottom of one of the dangerous curves. Then you will know.

John Rutherford, White Plains