Honeygo Boulevard: What Came Out Of The Traffic Meeting?

PERRY HALL, MD — A county meeting recently gave residents the chance to voice their input about the traffic patterns on a heavily-transited stretch of Honeygo Boulevard.

Up for discussion at the April 9 meeting were two traffic remedies, one involving a roundabout and the other a traffic signal.

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Only one of the two options would be selected moving forward.

A recording of the meeting can be watched below:

No official determination has been made by officials, as a feedback period remains ongoing by the county's Department of Public Works and Transportation.

As listed, the current options include:

• Option 1: Establishing a two-lane roundabout at the intersection of Honeygo Boulevard and Cross Road, which requires additional land to be acquired and would take about two years for construction to finish. The design, attached to a $2 million price tag, is 95% complete and still requires additional subsurface data.
• Option 2: Constructing a traffic signal at the intersection of Honeygo Boulevard and Gunpowder Farm Road, which would take less than two years to build but raise the potential for new crashes, particularly rear-end hits.

DPWT said the traffic signal option would also include left turn restrictions to "minimize queuing on Honeygo Boulevard and reduce the potential for rear end collisions." The restriction would be in place during peak travel times from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and then from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Landlocked Residents

Of the 43 participants who joined the meeting, a poll showed the majority of individuals were in favor of installing a traffic signal.

Rick Williams, who serves as the president of the Windsor Condominiums at Perry Hall Farms — the neighborhood directly west of Gunpowder Farm Road, said all 368 residents he represents were in favor of the second option.

"There's already some queuing happens on Honeygo Boulevard for left turns into both the Windsor Condominiums, as well as Gunpowder Farm Road," Williams said. "So the traffic signal would not significantly increase or decrease that, but it would help more people coming out of the Gunpowder Farm communities to get out onto Honeygo Boulevard."

"Cross Road is a minor road, and most of the developments do not directly access Cross Road. Most do directly access Gunpowder Farm Road. So that's why we would prefer that," he added.

Also raised was the traffic backup impacting communities near Honeygo Boulevard's intersection with Forge Road, going back to Correlli Lane.

"That is a ton of homes, and we're kind of landlocked now," said Brandi, one of the concerned residents. "It's a far drive for a lot of us to go to Gunpowder Farm, to go ahead and try to make a left out of our neighborhood."

"We're stuck going into Forge and Honeygo, which is actually a more dangerous intersection," she added.

The new traffic options were proposed after residents called for measures that would help clamp down on car accidents.

Data released by the county found that at least 18 crashes took place at Honeygo Boulevard and Cross Road, most of which involved crashes where a driver was making a left turn.

Virginia Collier, chief of highway design and special projects, said during the meeting that the roundabout option would bring driving speeds as low as 20 mph.

For another resident, concern stemmed from the vehicle traffic being brought increasingly closer to residential areas. "Instead of getting the cars away from the homes, you're bringing cars to their backyard,"she said.

Lack Of Publicity To Communities

A major concern highlighted during the meeting was that many residents were unaware that the county was holding the forum.

Brandi pointed out that some residents live in communities without housing associations that would have traditionally publicized the meeting.

"There's a lot of people that you're not reaching. It's easy for that message to go through condominiums or through HOAs and COAs, not residential homes with older persons," she said. "Postcards or mailers would be great."

Resident Tom Ercole said he didn't know about the meeting until he was informed by a relative.

"I found out about this from a family member that lives in Overlea," said Ercole. "I had no idea this was happening tonight."

The department said it would be continuing to accept feedback from the community, underscoring that its intent on moving the conversation forward with residents.

"This isn't an endpoint. This is just the next point, and we're going to continue to see what the community wants," said department spokesperson Ronald Snyder.

Any individuals who wish to submit their input on the traffic options are urged to contact the department online or by emailing publicworks@baltimorecountymd.gov.

Residents can also flag concerns to Council member David Marks, who was present at the meeting and directed constituents to his email, at dmarks@baltimorecountymd.gov.