Commissioners unhappy with MTA communication

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The modifications would be needed to accommodate commuter traffic to and from the Huntingtown church's overflow lot, which the MTA plans to lease for five years in an attempt to reduce overflow at its Route 2 Park and Ride.

The current Park and Ride has less than 100 parking spaces and is often filled 50 or 60 cars beyond capacity, according to Steve Silva, the MTA's director of engineering. As a result, commuters are forced to park in the nearby grass and sometimes near the road's shoulder, creating a safety hazard.

The lease is meant to alleviate the Park and Ride's overflow.

The modifications would prohibit patrons from the church, located on the northbound side of Route 4, and China King restaurant and gas station on the southbound side from crossing the road to make a left hand turn, a change that addressed an ongoing safety issue and was welcomed by the board.

However, commissioners Jerry Clark (R), Linda Kelley (R) and Susan Shaw (R) all had concerns with adding additional traffic from the church's lot to the rush-hour commute.

"With the amount of cars that you're going to be bringing in there on a daily basis, and the amount of buses that's going to be coming and going, I think you're creating a real safety hazard there," Clark said.

Kelley and Shaw also worried about altering the church's entrance, which would shorten the Route 4 merge lane to Route 2.

The plan comes as an alternative to the long-delayed construction of a Park and Ride in Prince Frederick, which was first approved nearly eight years ago.

"I thought they built pyramids in less time than that," Kelley said.

The original plan called for the construction of a 200-space temporary lot in Prince Frederick which could be used while the permanent lot was built. Instead, the MTA decided, without prior notification to the commissioners, to construct a 100-space temporary lot in Prince Frederick and reallocate the remaining spaces to the church's overflow lot, which can hold about 150 cars. Silva apologized but could not account for the lack of communication, adding that it was the project's small scale relative to the Prince Frederick lot that caused it to leapfrog the latter in priority.

President Wilson Parran (D) said he intended to mention the communication problems with the MTA to Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) during his Friday visit to Calvert County.

jnewman@somdnews.com