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| ICC causing traffic woes on Norbeck Rd |
The traffic congestion could get worse in 2012 when the ICC's 18 miles of highway are completed. Fortunately, the entrance and exit ramps at Norbeck Road will be removed sometime in 2012, which means that drivers will only be able to enter/exit the ICC at Georgia Avenue (near Emory Lane) or at Layhill Road (near Park Vista Crossing).
The eventual removal of the entrance/exit ramps from Norbeck Road could alleviate some of the traffic congestion, but the dire conditions of Norbeck Road with its narrow curvy two lanes and lack of shoulders and pedestrian/bike paths will persist until the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) takes action. State Senator Roger Manno who lives in the affected area between Norbeck and Layhill Road has been pressing SHA to widen the road to four lanes (two lanes in each direction).
I propose that SHA not only widen Norbeck Road to four lanes, but also include a 25-foot wide grassy median between each direction of traffic to provide a safety zone for cars trying to turn left across traffic.
More importantly, pedestrian/bike paths need to be added on both sides of the road. This would help improve human mobility, connectivity, and enhance transportation safety. This would also reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) if residents can walk or bike instead of drive.
Readers - do you have ideas for addressing this nightmare on Norbeck Road?
Article available after the jump:
Nightmare on Norbeck Road, ICC adds to woes
03/13/2011By Ben Giles
Examiner Staff Writer
Suzanne Corvelli sat on Barn Ridge Road in Rockville one day last week, waiting to make a right turn out of her neighborhood into a solid wall of cars backed up on Norbeck Road.
The traffic jam wouldn't disperse until about a mile from her home, where the cars passed the InterCounty Connector, Maryland's newest toll road and a thorn in the side of some local residents who blame it for Norbeck Road's traffic woes.
Norbeck Road (Route 28) has its own built-in disadvantages -- the portion between Georgia Avenue and Layhill Road slims down from four lanes to two. With cars merging at bottlenecks in either direction, residents say traffic on the road has always been poor, but has become even worse since ICC construction began in 2008.
"Norbeck has been bumper-to-bumper ever since construction started, and it's changed from rush-hour to all-day traffic," Corvelli said. "It's always been heavy, but it's gotten a lot worse," even more so since the ICC first opened to the public on Feb. 23.
Rush-hour backups on Norbeck Road, sometimes a mile long, are now commonplace, and residents like Corvelli are at the mercy of other drivers when trying to turn onto the road from their homes or from the road into their driveways.
During the ICC's free trial period, when about 30,000 vehicles a day were traveling the highway, traffic heading westbound on Norbeck Road was almost at a standstill, several residents said.
The Maryland State Highway Administration has been monitoring the situation at Norbeck Road and other roads near the ICC affected by new traffic patterns, and will make changes as necessary, officials said.
Officials have adjusted the timing of two traffic signals on Norbeck Road near the ICC to allow cars to flow more freely on the road. And state officials are committed to monitoring the road, said David Buck, state highway spokesman.
Since tolls went into effect Monday, state studies show that "delays were no worse than on any other day before the ICC was open," Buck said. Traffic on the ICC dipped severely -- to about 8,500 vehicles a day -- since the tolls were put in place.
"Between e-mails and phone calls and everything else, we certainly want to be responsive, which is why we're keeping people out there for the next couple of weeks," Buck said.
However, it will still take more time to make an accurate assessment of new traffic patterns on the ICC and nearby roads like Norbeck, Buck said, and residents shouldn't expect any major improvement before the next phase of the ICC is open in 10 to 12 months.
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