Chestertown residents are asking if restrictions can be put in place to reduce the amount of heavy truck traffic on state Route 213 going across the Chester River bridge. Our photo was taken Wednesday, Sept. 21.
Chestertown residents are asking if restrictions can be put in place to reduce the amount of heavy truck traffic on state Route 213 going across the Chester River bridge. Our photo was taken Wednesday, Sept. 21.
CHESTERTOWN — A group of Chestertown residents expressed their concerns about the increase in heavy truck traffic on state Route 213 to representatives from the State Highway Administration and the Maryland Department of Transportation during Tuesday night’s Kent County Commissioners meeting.
Route 213 runs from Queen Anne’s County north through Kent and ends in Cecil County.
When the route crosses the Chester River bridge into Kent County, it is known as Maple Avenue and then Washington Avenue.
Many of the residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting live on Maple or Washington avenues.
Representatives from the SHA, MDOT and various other state government agencies were at the meeting to present the annual Consolidation Transportation Program for the upcoming fiscal year.
Many of the residents said their main concern was pedestrian safety and the condition of the road, particularly at the foot of Maple Avenue where the Chester River bridge comes into town.
“I’ve been here five and a half years or more and this is the second time the road has been resurfaced and it will deteriorate again. This is the tip of the iceberg. Resurfacing the road is only part of what needs to be done,” said Michael McDowell.
He cited a study completed in 2015 by the Chestertown Community Task Force that looked at traffic volume, type, speed and pedestrian safety along Route 213 through Chestertown, but particularly on the stretch between Maple and Washington avenues.
According to the study, in 2015, of the 13,800 vehicles that traveled through Chestertown every day via Washington Avenue, 7%, or 966 vehicles, were heavy trucks.
That amount was predicted to increase to 1,500 heavy trucks per day by 2030.
“There was an origin and destination study of the truck traffic and the bulk of the truck traffic going through the town is not stopping in Chestertown. It’s going elsewhere or out of state so the idea that this is coming into town to deliver groceries and so on (is wrong),” McDowell said.
“The majority is avoiding tolls (on U.S. Route 301) or avoiding weigh stations, and we are paying the penalty in danger and detrition on the road,” he said.
David Bowering, who served on the task force in 2015 and wrote the bulk of the report, said at the time, representatives from SHA told residents that the best way to address the community’s concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety was to have Chestertown included in the SHA’s Streetscape Program.
To do that the town needed to commission a community task force, request in writing that the SHA include Chestertown in its Streetscape Program, and get the Washington and Maple avenues corridor on Route 213 included in the town’s comprehensive plan.
“Which we did,” he said. “My question is after seven years what happened? How did the fire go out? Can we get an answer from SHA that tells us what happened to bring the process to a halt?”
“The work has already been done,” Bowering said. “The recommendations are already there.”
McDowell and Bowering attended the Chestertown Town Council meeting the night before to share the same information and encourage those elected officials to attend the meeting with SHA.
At the Monday meeting, McDowell also offered potential solutions including bridge restrictions for trucks; installation of a traffic camera or speed sign on the bridge; and banning four-axel vehicles.
Chestertown Mayor David Foster said Tuesday that he might be new in his role as mayor, but he is “an old civil engineer and urban planner” and while the town appreciates the SHA paving the foot of Washington Avenue what they have created is a “starting gate.”
“You’re coming down a narrow two-lane bridge (the road) widens out, there is smooth pavement, and people put the pedal to the metal. They see that as an accelerator. … We’ve got to also create some extra warning signs, extra speed enforcement, anything we can do to calm (traffic),” he said.
According to recommendations listed in the 2015 report, the best way to deter truck traffic from cutting through Chestertown was a bypass. Until that project can be completed, it was suggested the SHA reduce the speed limit on the bridge to 25 mph, install traffic calming techniques such as bike lanes and streetscaping, and put speed cameras along Washington Avenue.
Commission President Tom Mason said the only way he could see heavy truck traffic being controlled on the Chester River bridge was to build a bypass, which he has heard about since he moved to Kent County in 1971.
“We have a milk truck, and it leaves our farm every day and goes across that bridge. That’s the only way we can go … that’s the way you have to go unless you go up through Crumpton, but when you’re getting five miles a gallon for diesel fuel you have to take the easiest route,” he said.
Mason owns a dairy farm off Melitota Road near Chestertown.
During a separate portion of the commissioners meeting, Chestertown Councilman Tom Hertz, using examples provided to the council at the presentation the night before, pushed back a bit against this idea citing Dixon Valve & Coupling Co. as the “perfect community partner because you never see a Dixon truck going through town anymore. They always go around.”
Herz said there is no easy fix to the problems involving truck traffic on the bridge, but that people can be taught to change their behavior. He reused Bowering’s example of Centreville.
“When Centreville was having its water and sewer lines replaced and the traffic pattern in town changed to accommodate construction, people went around, they changed their behavior,” he said.
Pedestrian safety and lack of connecting sidewalks was another concern brought up by residents.
Jim Bogden, chair of the Chestertown Recreation Commission, said he helped the town submit a grant application for the federal government’s Safe Streets and Roads for All program to write a comprehensive safety plan.
Per the Chestertown Police Department, Bogden said there were 224 vehicle crashes within town limits last year with 16 injuries and the main reason was because there are two major state highways going through town.
While he appreciates the new pedestrian signal on Morgnec Road connecting the two portions of the Gilchrest Rail Trail, the blinking lights do not work to slow oncoming traffic.
“It is an accident waiting to happen. There is going to be a fatality there any day now,” he said.
Dwight Zilinskas, a member of the Chestertown Recreation Commission, said he would like to see the Gilchrest Trail eventually extended all the way out to Worton. He said the trail would offer a safe alternative for students traveling by bike to school, especially if the middle school is moved out to Worton.
“This would be a huge undertaking, a big project, but I am a big supporter of working with the state and the county to make something like this come about,” he said.
Tim Smith, administrator with SHA, said there were numerous federal grants available for pedestrian projects and he would be happy to “hold the county’s hand in navigating the process.”
County Administrator Shelley Heller said that she spoke to Del. Jeff Ghrist (R-36-Caroline) on Tuesday and he would like to hold a webinar or seminar on how to apply for those federal grants. She said when something is planned, she would be sure to get word out to all the towns.
At the conclusion of public comments, Sean Powell, deputy secretary of operations for the Department of Transportation, thanked the residents for their comments and said it had given him a lot to work with.
He encouraged residents to contact the SHA if they had any other concerns or questions.
Also sitting in the audience were District 36 delegates Jay Jacobs (Kent) and Steven Arentz (Queen Anne’s).
MacKenzie Brady contributed to this reporting.
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