State Highway Official: 'We Haven't Said No' to Ducketts Traffic Light

The State Highway Administration (SHA) has not ruled out installing a traffic light at Washington Boulevard and Ducketts Lane, near the site of a proposed elementary school, an official says.

David Buck, spokesperson for the SHA, contacted Patch in response to a that referenced traffic plans near the site for an elementary school on Ducketts Lane. 

Buck said that the school system’s consulting firm has not provided enough data for SHA to make a recommendation one way or another.

"We haven’t said no to anything yet," he said in a phone interview. "That doesn’t mean the answer isn’t going to be no. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up here. We’re not coming to any conclusions yet. It’s just that we don’t have the information that we need in hand right now to come up with an opinion about what we believe should go there."

Residents have requested that a traffic light be installed on Washington Boulevard at Ducketts Lane.

At a Board of Education meeting last week, project consultant Melissa Wilfong said that the SHA had advised putting a right turn lane at Ducketts Lane to US 1 but had not recommended a traffic light.

“We’ve discussed traffic counts, wait times [and] crash data” with the SHA, said Wilfong. "What they see as a problem at that light...is wait times."

According to standard procedure, SHA reviews plans for projects that could have an impact on state roads and makes recommendations on improvements.

While the Ducketts Lane elementary school does not "front" US 1, Buck said, "there are going to be some impacts to the intersection of Route 1 and Ducketts."

“The developer or traffic consultant needs to do a thorough study of the intersection,” Buck said in a phone interview with Elkridge Patch.

Architect Melissa Wilfong reported to the Howard County Board of Education on Dec. 20 that the research had been done.

"The traffic study has been completed," said Wilfong.

SHA provided an excerpt from an email it sent to the school consultants on Dec. 20 that requested a traffic signal study:

“SHA would need to see updated crash and delay information in addition to the volume data provided to reach an informed opinion as to traffic signal needs at this location. With that in mind, we suggest that a full intersection traffic signal study be conducted by the County School Board and that consideration be given to widening Ducketts Lane to provide two full outbound travel lanes as a condition of school development.”

The school system did not respond to inquiries for this story.

"We’re just awaiting their full report, full submittal of the traffic impact study," said Buck.