The bottom line of
this message is that,
although every legal
avenue is being pursued
by Jay Young, the outcome
of this situation is
going to depend very
much on the pressure
we can apply to public
officials. To that end,
a Hess Road Preservation
Association has been
formed, with Ralph Rigger
as President, Joe Davies,
Thorne Gould, and Bill
Minor as vice-presidents,
and myself, Ellen Reeder,
as Secretary and Treasurer.
The letterhead writing
paper with these officers'
names is being made up now; what I want is a second page that has hundreds
of names printed on
it as part of the writing
paper. I want the recipients
of our correspondence,
particularly Kevin Kamenetz,
County Executive, to
be sobered by the sea
of those voters' names.
And copies of our correspondence
will obviously be copied
to the media. Therefore,
I do not want to include
anyone's name without
having obtained permission
to do so. If you will
allow your name to be
used, please email me
that fact at
ereeder@verizon.net.
If the Hess Rd. community
does absolutely nothing,
the next official step
will be a document on
Kevin Kamenetz's desk
that comprises a design
for a two lane bridge,
which includes straightening
out the alignment on
the approaches, together
with approval of federal
funding for 80% of the
project. All Kamenetz
will have to do is sign
his name, and, as is
agreed by all sides,
the County Council will
Not countermand his
decision. Todd Huff,
our Councilman, will
do nothing at that point,
and I am not even sure
he can or will do anything
at all helpful at any
point in this ordeal.
Here is what the
process is: Last week,
the bridge was examined
by a State Highway Administration
team of technicians
in a systematic, methodical,
and, I am sure, objective
process, following federal
guidelines. We don't
yet know those results,
and I do not know when
we will be told them.
For us, the key issue
of the three part examination
(deck, superstructure,
substructure) is the
substructure (the abutments).
If the abutments retain
their "6" rating of
two years ago, they
can be repaired, and
the counties can replace
or rebuild or repair
the rest of the bridge,
and I feel comfortable
they would work with
us for a result we would
like. If the abutments
fall below 4, however,
then the Departments
of Public Works of both
counties will want to
build a two lane bridge
and Straighten Out the
Alignment. (It is important
not to lose sight of
the issue of this 90
degree plus curve, because
few would dispute that
the tight curve is a
contributing factor
to the excellent safety
record of this bridge).
An engineering firm
will be engaged by the
counties. It is very
important that, should
the abutments fail,
we make sure that the
engineering firm works
up the alternative of
a one lane bridge. You
can see that this letterhead
paper is going to have
a use.
As you know, through
a process we neither
understand nor can change,
the "management" of
the Hess Rd. bridge
project was put in the
hands of Harford County.
I am assured by Steve
Walsh, Chief of Engineering
and Construction of
the Baltimore County
Department of Public
Works that both departments
are working closely,
and will agree, on every
aspect. I don't find
that much solace because
the Departments of Public
Works of both counties
clearly want to build
a two lane bridge, although
Jeff Stratmeyer, Chief
Engineer for the Dept.
of Public Works for
Harford County, is quite
pleasant and would probably
accede to a fieldstone
abutment appearance
analogous to what we
now have. The bottom
line is that if the
abutments are judged
a 4 or below, I do not
see any hope in pleasantly
persuading the Departments
of Public Works to design
a one lane bridge. However,
those departments have
to follow directions
from those higher up
the chain of command.
Let me clarify the
all-important funding
dimension. What seems
to be a point of no
contention is that federal
funds for bridges are
very much available
to the counties. The
funds, supplied by the
Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA) are channeled
through the State Highway
Administration (SHA),
to which the counties
will submit their application.
Approval of an application
by SHA brings federal
funds to the project
to the tune of 80% of
the cost, with Baltimore
County and Harford County
each supplying 10%.
If the counties submit
an application that
requests funding for
a two lane bridge, SHA
will view that application
as a conventional request,
because the amount of
traffic across the bridge
each day correlates,
by their FHWA guidelines,
to a two lane bridge.
However, the FHWA guidelines
also encourage applications
that request an exemption
from the design guidelines,
for, example, in historic
contexts. As we speak,
the Jericho Bridge,
the management of the
repair of which was
picked up by Baltimore
County in the infamous
swap we resent, is receiving
federal funds, although
I do not know if the
Jericho bridge represents
an exemption, as I do
not know its daily traffic
count.
I have corresponded
a bit with Jeff Stratmeyer
and have mentioned to
him that acquiring the
land from the abutting
landowners in order
to straighten out the
alignment of the bridge
might be so onerous
that it could take years
for that land to be
condemned. In that case,
I asked him, would the
counties still consider
going ahead and applying
for funds to SHA, even
though the counties
know that SHA has another
mandate, which is safety.
Surely, I have written
to Jeff, a good argument
could be made to SHA
(by us!) that a two
lane bridge with the
existing approaches
is not safer than the
present one lane bridge
with the existing approach.
Jeff'
s answer was that he
realizes a two lane
bridge with the existing
approaches could be
a concern to SHA, but,
nonetheless, the counties
would still go ahead
with their application
for a two lane bridge.
Given that design
exemptions from FHWA
guidelines are admitted,
even encouraged, how
would SHA view an application
for a one lane Hess
Rd. bridge repair or
rebuild, keeping the
existing approaches?
The success of that
application would rely
to a large extent on
the strength of the
application. Now the
question arises as to
how strongly Harford
County would argue in
this application that
the historicity of the
Hess Rd. bridge and
the maintenance of the
rural character of the
Hess Rd. neighborhood
should take precedence
over the convenience
of Harford County commuters.
There's the rub. I don't
see the County Executive
for Harford County wanting
to shoot himself in
the foot with his constituents
by agreeing to submit
an application that
took that tack.
But pressure, public
pressure, voters' pressure,
can be the deciding
point. I need your name
and the name of anyone
else in Baltimore County
you can contact. Kevin
Kamenetz and the all-important
Fred Homan, County Administrator,
have got to be made
to feel that the Hess
Rd. bridge is not worth
the hit they both could
take. Maybe Kamenetz
and Homan could decide
that the county could
just reach in its pocket
and fix this bridge
and get these Hess Road
people to go away.
Please help by lending
your name and obtaining
names of others. I need
to get this paper printed
and working for us right
away.
Ellen Reeder
ereeder@verizon.net
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