On Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. in the Leonardtown Fire Hall, representatives from the State Highway Administration presented a multitude of proposals designed to alleviate traffic and to provide safer road conditions for the town of Leonardtown.

The project proposal is concerned primarily with the State Route 5 corridor from New Towne Neck Road to Hollywood Road that traverses the heart of Leonardtown. “The speeding and the amount of traffic thru the Leonardtown corridor is the single biggest problem for the town today,” said Leonardtown Mayor, J. Harry Norris.

According to Jeremy Beck, SHA Project Manager, “Currently, the project is only funded through the planning phase. It could take close to 10 years to receive state and federal funding necessary to fund the remaining phases of this project, before the project is complete.”

Upon hearing that, some of the attendees displayed their disappointment. One older citizen stated that she would be six feet under before the project would be completed.

Beck informed the audience that there were multiple options being studied by the state and that once a full review was completed with the help of resident feedback, there would be a decision about how to proceed. “The public meeting had a great turnout, there is a lot of public interest in this project, people realize that safety is an issue out there and the community is positive toward improvements.”

There are at least three options being discussed by the state for the improvements to the corridor. One particual option, Alternative 2 is Traffic System Management, no major physical construction, but to add turn lanes and stop lights at certain intersections, specifically Moakley Street. “A traffic light at Moakley Streetis the most favored,“ said some Applegate residents.

“People just speed up and down that area and they are on their cell phones not paying attention and there are a lot of rear-end accidents,” said one resident.

Another mentioned the fact that a lot of people volunteer at the soup kitchen, there are children attending daycare,  people attending church all along that busy stretch. “It’s a highly congested area with no traffic light. The light would ease the congestion.”

Most Leonardtown residents said that the project was long overdue. One resident of the Applegate community, directly affected by the road improvement proposal in questions stated, “People drive way to fast traveling through the town and hopefully, this proposed light will slow them down.”

SHA has been studying the problem since January 2007. The study includes environmental and traffic data, received concurrence on the purpose and need statement which developed preliminary conceptual alternatives that were presented at the meeting.

“For years, the town has supported the need for a light [on Route 5] from the Compton Road and Hollywood Road intersections,” said Norris. The mayor indi