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I-95 north of Baltimore home to region’s worst bottlenecks
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - For anyone who has been stuck in traffic driving east on Interstate 895 at Interstate 95 and said in frustration, “This is the worst bottleneck in Baltimore,” here’s something to feel better about — you’re right.
The three-quarters-of-a-mile stretch where I-895 meets I-95 creates about 55 hours of traffic congestion per week, and motorists travel on average about 20 mph during congested times, making the area the worst bottleneck in the Baltimore metro region, according to a national study released Tuesday by traffic information provider Inrix.
The second-worst bottleneck in the Baltimore region isn’t far from the first. Where I-95 north meets I-895 creates about 50 hours of traffic congestion per week, with motorists traveling about 24 mph during busy times, according to the study.
“The reality is you have two major highways coming together and a massive number of people using those highways to commute to and from work in Baltimore City,” said Don Fry, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Baltimore Committee.
Fry and the GBC have numerous times called for the state to increase transportation expenditures by as much as $600 million per year to alleviate traffic congestion throughout the Baltimore region. Baltimore’s commuters spend almost 60 million hours sitting in traffic a year, wasting almost 40 million gallons of fuel and creating in excess of $1 billion in costs, according to study done by the Texas Transportation Institute for the GBC last fall.
The Maryland Transportation Authority is in the process of expanding the 10-mile stretch from the I-95/I-895 split in Baltimore to Route 43 in White Marsh, adding two express toll lanes in each direction to ease congestion.
“We are making improvements to that section of the highway,” said Terri Moss, spokeswoman for the MdTA.
When the project is complete in 2012, drivers will be able to travel in one of four existing general-purpose lanes, as they do today, or use an
E-ZPass to travel one of two express toll lanes that will offer “relatively congestion-free conditions,” according to the MdTA.
The Baltimore region’s worst bottleneck ranked as the 160th-worst across the country, while the region ranked 19th among the nation’s 100 largest metro areas in terms of traffic congestion. Los Angeles, New York and Chicago were the nation’s most-congested regions.
Inrix, based in Washington state, completed the study by analyzing billions of GPS-enabled probe vehicles reports from commercial vehicles, including taxis, airport shuttles, service delivery vans and long-haul trucks.
“The data powering the report will contribute enormously to a better understanding of traffic congestion that can help consumers, businesses and public officials better understand the flow of traffic and apply that information toward improved transportation planning and the avoidance of traffic,” said Bryan Mistele, founder and chief executive officer of Inrix.
acannarsa@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
1:16 PM MST on Wed., Jul. 23, 2008 re: "City ‘gateway toll’ considered"
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Examiner Reader said:
I guess SF really doesn't want people to come to the City! What a load of crock. Nobody in the SF govt has any business sense. Great, kill the goose that lays the golden eggs (businesses and sales taxes).
4 agree | 2 disagree
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just shoot me said:
sweet - another friggin toll. I already pay $1000/month in commute costs.
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Examiner Reader said:
If there were a viable, reliable CLEAN option then people would be able to not drive. Without that option people must drive. Clean up MUNI, make it dependable and regular and co- ordinate with other transit agencies and people will want to get out of their cars. As it is if you are in a hurry or out of communte hours MUNI is not an option. Also, I am unclear why people love BART!. Signage is pathetic and it is NOT co-ordinated with MUNI or Golden Gate transit, what's the point? Take a look at NYC, London or Paris to get a look at what good transit systems are. Funny, their workers show up and they keep to a timetable. Maybe we could try doing that?
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Bruce Simmons said:
for one, I don't understand how it cost $30 million to instigate the deployment of traffic control officers and traffic cones. Second, how would diverting a traffic jam to El Camino Real alleviate anything. El Camino Real is already questionably jammed up at traffic time and the ensuing flood of motor vehicles would only spill the excess onto the various side streets around that road. Spend the $30 million where it's needed, on the school systems or homeless shelters.
6 agree | 7 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
R.I.P. DeKeisha Skaggs! We will all miss you! -Jessica G. P.
7 agree | 4 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
600 Million dollars? Much too expensive and way too late to fix the problem. By the time the road is built, no one will care because the people will be gone.
5 agree | 5 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
These choke points have been around for over 30 years - and the drivers that dart into the lane and slam on their brakes that have not killed themselves are still endangering the rest of us! Leave the Baltimore area for good - I did 12 years ago and life is so much better since I don't have to deal with the crime or the local corporate societal ladder. I love to hear the companies complain about the lack of talent in the region. The problem is everybody in the Baltimore business district is trying to rape each other so what is left is table scraps for the locals - they don't have a problem hiring out of staters and paying them big bucks but if you are a local they hate the fact that they are reliant on you - especially if you are white and have a moral value system.
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ms jackson said:
All this money spent on highway dividers, anti smoking campaigns, youth violence intiatives, dietary labeling, unwanted pregnancies, anti suicide barriers, etc. could be saved by introducing a microscopic brain implant that would cause extreme pain and forced change of action any time somebody begins to behave in a way that creates any sort of societal problems. Of course, this would mean about 95 percent of huimanity would be constantly groaning in pain and apparently changing their minds!
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Examiner Reader said:
oh my gosh that is bad people need to start being more careful
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Examiner Reader said:
When someone does something like this, it not only saves lives, it leaves the rest of us with the knowledge that one of us did a great good thing. I'm so grateful for that knowledge. John Beatty is a really good man.
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San Francisco Voter said:
Wow. I knew there were at least a few good people around here.
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Mike Licht said:
>>Re: Study: Traffic costs D.C. $2B, Baltimore $1 billion annually<< Editorial decision to omit hyperlink to the actual study is a gross disservice to readers.
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William Cooke said:
Great race. Thanks Annapolis, Annapolis Police, and AA County Police.
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