TOWSON, Md (WMAR) — "It’s something ready to happen. It’s the perfect storm right now," said Dan Shannon.
The perfect storm for a serious crash on Shannon's road in Lutherville-Timonium.
"We’ve had some really serious accidents already. Some hospitalizations of drivers in the neighborhood," said Shannon.
"I’ve seen many animals killed; deer, neighbors dogs. I’ve seen neighbors almost get hit by cars," said neighbor Adam Fedder.
These Pot Spring Road neighbors have had enough with the speeding. With at least 10,000 cars traveling the road every day, it scares them.
"A lot of people, now that the weather has been cooperating, like to get out and abut with their children on bikes, walking their pets," said Shannon.
"I’ve seen people in excess of 60 mph side-by-side for almost a quarter of a mile on a road that’s designed for 30 mph for one car," said Fedder.
They’ve reached out to local officials and taken matters into their own hands. Bright yellow signs now line parts of the road.
"Maybe they [drivers] will take notice and do something different," said Fedder.
Baltimore County police are working to address the issue, actively conducting speed enforcement, but statistics prove their efforts alone cannot solve the problem.
Over the past six months, the number of speeding tickets issued along pot spring road has nearly doubled while the amount of crashes that resulted in property damage have barely decreased.
The county's Department of Public Works and Transportation is now getting involved, collecting data to see what will work best.
"Everything is on the table except for maybe speed humps just due to the volume on that road. It effects emergency response which obviously is something we do not want to do," said Greg Karski, the Baltimore County Bureau Chief for Transportation.
It’s something they are evaluating in lots of areas, as traffic volumes continue to increase. According to transportation data, Maryland's traffic on roads and highways is starting to surpass pre-pandemic levels.
Their bike and pedestrian master plan involves looking county-wide to see where they can fit in bike lanes safely, like Pot Spring Road.
"We’d get kind of two-for-one. We’d get the bike lanes in and slow down traffic by narrowing the lane," said Karski.
The county is working to set up a community meeting to hear concerns before making a decision.
