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Emmitsburg Activist Channels Traffic Concerns Through Web Site
Ingrid Mezo
 Emmitsburg resident Catherine Forrence has taken her activism in the community digital with a new web site called www.masondixonbypass.com. The site
provides information about what can be done to address the truck and Pennsylvania commuter traffic problem through the town’s Main Street.
Trucks, some of which Forrence said are too large to come through the area according to Federal Motor Carrier laws, and are coming through there to
avoid weigh stations, rattle Main Street residents’ homes at all hours of the night, emit unhealthy toxins through a residential area, and create noise pollution. She said that the
rattling the trucks cause to homes could also potentially damage homes.
Forrence hopes that the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania will work together to create a bypass around the town, possibly from PA Rt. 16 to MD Rt.
15, and in the meantime, said officials could use Maryland laws already in place to restrict the times trucks travel through the town’s Main Street.
"I’ve never done a Web site before," Forrence said. "The initial learning curve is pretty steep, but then it gets easier. I always had in mind to do
this because any planning decision Emmitsburg makes has to take into consideration a multi-jurisdictional approach."
Development just above Emmitsburg in Pennsylvania has already caused traffic backups through town, as commuters from there drive through the town to
access U.S. Rt. 15 South. There is currently no other way for those commuters to get from Pennsylvania to Rt. 15. And, more development is planned there, which will add to the
traffic problem through town, unless a bypass is built.
A solution the town is already considering, is requiring any developers who wish to annex from the western side of town to build a road through that
western portion to alleviate traffic through the town’s center. But, Forrence said that this would just push commercial truck traffic through another residential area, and instead,
wants officials to work on a solution that would force trucks around the town, through a non-residential route. She also said she is concerned that a road built through the west of
town would not be built to the state requirements for truck traffic, and would not resolve the problem of trucks driving through Main Street at 3 in the morning.
If a developer built a road that ran through the annexed-in western portion of town, "It can’t be called a bypass," Forrence said. "Instead, it would
be a collector road or an arterial. We need to be sure that it’s clear that trucks will go on that. It will have to be up to par as a Maryland State Highway."
Forrence said she doubted that the town could get a developer to build a road that is that expensive.
Hoover said that requiring a developer to build an additional road through that area would alleviate the town’s traffic problems much more quickly
than getting the state to build a bypass around town, which could take 10 to 30 years. But, he added that having another road to provide access to Rt. 15 would not eliminate the need
for a bypass around town in the future.
"The town controls the town, and many people in the town want a bypass, and an actual definite possibility of us getting a bypass is to ask a
developer to build a road through the town," Hoover said. "How long are we willing to wait for the state, and that is not going to be short-term resolution. The concept to do it and
the concept to fund it, is to alleviate the Pennsylvania traffic. The only way that we can do it is to rely on developers and demand that they do something for us. If we’re willing
to sit and wait another 10, 20, 30 years, then let’s continue to ask the state to pick up the tab and do this."
Forrence, however has already contacted state officials to work on the truck traffic issue.
"Nobody’s really addressed the situation throughout Maryland," she said. "When your Main Street is a State Highway, you have a hard time regulating
it."
This problem of trucks driving through the Main Streets of towns is a problem in many municipalities throughout the state, she said. But, Forrence
said state law allows the town to take over its Main Street. Municipalities can use their authority to restrict the times trucks are allowed to come through town using that state
law, which she references in the Maryland resources section of her Web site.
"The state law allows for these restrictions without the town having to take on the cost burden," Forrence said.
Delegate Rick Weldon (Republican, District3B) was supportive of the idea of allowing Frederick County municipalities to take over their Main Streets
and restrict truck traffic through there when she talked to him, Forrence said.
Weldon said that he would try to address the problem through the Maryland Municipal League (MML) and try to get municipal leaders up to snuff on how
they can resolve truck traffic problems through their Main Streets and dialogue with them about their ideas. Brunswick was successful in restricting the times trucks could come
through its Main Street.
"Brunswick has a bypass running through its town, but Brunswick officials have a very cooperative relationship with state officials, and certainly
business owners," he said. "The best way to approach this is to establish a regular and frequent conversation with State Highway Administration (SHA) officials through the county.
Brunswick actually set up frequent meetings with the SHA, where we could actually take SHA officials out and show them the problem, and we had frequent conversations with the SHA
district office.
Municipal officials can actually work through the governor [and] the Frederick County delegation would be happy to help facilitate that relationship
with the local SHA folks. We just haven’t been asked to do that yet."
But, now that Forrence has made her concerns known publicly, and has provided a resource for anyone interested in the problem through her Web site,
town officials may better understand how truck traffic through Main Street disrupts residents’ lives who own homes there.
Hoover said he would be willing to talk about restricting truck traffic through Main Street at different times of the day.
"From a municipal side, if she has something she wants to present, I’m more than willing to listen to it as a stepping stone," Hoover said. "If she
has additional comments or viewpoints that she wants to get across, I’m open to any discussion she wants to have about it."
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