Wildewood Stoplight Could Control Some Base Traffic
Posted for Del. John Bohanan
Pax Leader
Photo by Horia Varlan
A new traffic signal on Route 4 at Wildewood Parkway could help control some of the traffic congestion caused by commuters’ daily drives to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, but it could be 18 months before it is operable.
Del. John Bohanan informed the St. Mary’s County Commissioners last week that the State Highway Administration has begun the process to install the light, which includes design and land acquisition.
Del. Bohanan also updated the commissioners on two other traffic choke points in the county’s development district.
Del. Bohanan said he has also asked Rep. Steny Hoyer to secure federal funding for an expansion of Route 4 between Route 235 and the Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge, also consistently clogged with commuter traffic on weekdays.
The Great Mills intersection at Routes 5 and 246 (Great Mills Road) is frequently jammed in the evening with commuters from Pax River and Webster Outlying Field. Del. Bohanan said he has asked SHA to find both short and longer term solutions to the problem.
The traffic problem is due to the fact the none of the roads in St. Mary’s county go anywhere. No matter where you are going you have to get on the three or four main roads in the county. FDR boulevard needs to be completed and all the little side roads that go nowhere need to be connected (just two of multiple transportation issues). The poor transportation infrastructure in the county is unacceptable and needs to be addressed more rapidly.
I would like to see these issued discussed more on this site (not complaining about it but rather what is being done to correct it). We need less traffic lights and more bridges. We should be looking at ways to safely increase the speed of traffic not manage the level of congestion.