Route 100: The Westward Expansion

 In 1999, the completion of Route 100 from Route 29 to MD-177 Mountain Road in Pasadena was completed as a contagious Roadway connecting multiple communities and allowing many others to pass through without using already clogged roads such as Route 103, 108, 104, 176, 175 and countless others. Not only that, it paved the way for many new developments to take place the largest of which is Arundel Mills. As good as this was for Eastern Howard and Anne Arundel Counties, how did points west of Route 100's western terminus fare?

Well, lets start at Route 29 which is the western terminus of Route 100. Well, the entirety of Route 100 is dumped onto Route 29 and causes lots of traffic jams going northbound on Route 29 to connect to I-70. In addition, Route 108 becomes very congested when traveling west of Route 29 towards Clarksville. This shouldn't be a surprise since there has been unprecedented development west of Columbia heading towards Montgomery County and Frederick and many Residents work east of their homes and take Route 100 to get there. My commute was in reverse for 7 years traveling from Glen Burnie to Ellicott City. 

So what does this mean? It mans that traffic is awful. But how should the Community respond? Well, I believe they respond the same way they did when Route 100 was a glimmer far off in  the heads of state highway planners. I could provide a long winded history of the road and what it was originally meant to bypass but that's what Wikipedia's for. I'll get right to the point; Route 100 ends prematurely at Route 29 and in order to handle not only the current traffic but the projected increase from still more development will only make matters worse and the only way to improve it is to expand the road westward to Route 32.

Now that everybody's had a chance to catch their breath at such a proposal, allow me to explain myself. I don't wish to tear down a single dwelling nor do I wish to permanently "donate" an acre of park land. Many newer highways have had to shove their way into existing Residential Communities (Route 216, the ICC, and the existing Route 100) to name a few. This was done because the State couldn't buy up enough land to secure a right of way indictive of a straight line. Case in point, the hairpin turn the existing Route 100 makes between the communities of Shipley's Grant and Montgomery Meadows. Expanding Route 100 westward will include those same hairpin turns and something the existing Route 100 doesn't have; Tunnels.

So lets take a trip on the newly expanded Route 100. Instead of starting at its current western terminus of Route 29, I intend to start it at the new western  terminus I have created; Route 32. Route 32 has had lots of expansion at the southern end of Columbia from the rural Guilford Road to a major highway with a right of way all its own. This stops just above Route 108 in Clarksville where it returns to being a rural roadway once again with no shoulders and just one lane in each direction. Luckily Route 32 is being widened and its ancient at grade intersections are being replaced with grade separated interchanges to handle the increased traffic volumes and will be a highway from Route 108 to I-70.

This makes Route 32 the perfect new western terminus for Route 100. Route 100 will begin eastbound at Route 32 just above its new interchange with Linden Church Road. It will travel roughly a mile before meeting Sheppards Lane just south its roundabout with Folly Quarter Road. Route 100 will then make a hairpin turn to cross Homewood Road with another interchange just east of the aforementioned roundabout. After this interchange, yet another hairpin turn will occur so that Route 100 will travel above the existing Farside Community along and will cross the now cut off  Manor Lane. If Manor Lane between Route 108 and Route 144 reopened, an interchange will be built, but not in its present condition. There will however be an interchange at Centennial Lane between Route 108 and the entrance to Centennial Park. 

Here's where things get hairy to say the least. Are we going to plow over Centennial Park and its picturesque views, lake, pathways, tennis courts etc.? No, of course not but how will Route 100 travel from Centennial Lane to its current western terminus at Route 29? Well, lets think outside the box and think inside the "tube" if you will. That's right, it will be tunneled underground through Centennial Park so as not to disrupt Centennial Park. This will be Howard County's version of the "Big Dig" in Boston except this will be minus the corruption and shouty workmanship that plagued Boston. The finished product did include a multi block park that connected Downtown Boston to the then neglected North End Neighborhood. 

Now back to Route 100, now that we know Centennial Park won't be bulldozed, lets continue our Journey eastward to Route 29. There will be a bridge but no interchange with Old Annapolis Road heading towards Dorsey Hall just west of Leyden Way traveling north between Blue Barrow Ride and Gwynn Park Drive. At this point, Route 100 will become tunneled once again so that it doesn't cause a disruption between existing residences and traffic patterns along Gray Rock Drive where it will cross via a tunnel without an interchange between Red Bandana Way, Fragile Sail Way, and Firefly Way. Route 100 will finally rejoin itself at Route 29 before traveling between Dorsey Hall and Northfield Elementary and Dunloggin Middle at the Forest Hill Country Club.

So there you have it, I extended Route 100 westbound from Route 29 to Route 32 without disputing a single residence or an acre of park land. I do however know what you're thinking; this is stupid. Why would we shove a highway through well established communities and literally rip them apart? Why should disrupt farmland and some of Howard County's dwindling Rural scenery? The answer is; we shouldn't and you're right this is stupid.

That being said, the problems cited at the beginning of this post are very real regarding the clogged roadways and continuing development all throughout the effected regions. There absolutely does need to be a highway extension of Route 100  to Route 32 and it should have happened. However, Dorsey Hall, Centennial Park and several other Neighborhoods were built without taking this into consideration. The result? Unmitigated sprawl. A Route like this should have been master planned into the County before development occurred but it hasn't. Although I pretended the extension of Route 100 would be of little disruption to existing communities, who are we kidding? Of course it would. And that is why development can't be a singular venture. It has to be a puzzle consisting of multiple pieces and to quote "The Wire"; "And all the Pieces Matter." Now we must continue to find a solution to keep the ever expanding traffic flowing smoothly.