Seven years after the plan was hatched, the Harford Road streetscape project has reached the one-year countdown to completion.

As a sign of things to come, drivers will likely see fresh and permanent asphalt before the end of July at the south end of the work area.

Construction, which began in summer of 2007, was scheduled to be complete next summer and the State Highway Administration expects to meet that deadline.

“I would say early summer the way things are going,” said Charlie Gischlar, a spokesman for the State Highway Administration.

Gischlar added that the timetable is, as always, “weather permitting,” but he also added that the weather has been favorable lately.

“We’re really making remarkable progress,” Gischlar said.

That progress can be seen all along Harford Road, from Joppa Road down to the city line, in the form of new lampposts, finished sidewalks and newly laid bricks.

But there are still many places where work is disrupting business, which have dealt with lost or blocked parking spaces, a sidewalk that resembles an obstacle course and customers who were sometimes unwilling to face those hassles
.
Now, as the improvement project is about to enter its downhill stretch, business owners expressed a mixture of frustration, indifference and satisfaction.

Work was already under way when Mike Burkhead, owner and manager of the Dunkin’ Donuts, located just south of Joppa Road, opened for business.

“If it’s hurting my business, I wouldn’t know,” Burkhead said.

“I just want them to finish,” he said and laughed.

A lane of traffic was blocked in front of the doughnut shop July 18, and Burkhead admitted he’s looking forward to the work being done.

“I’m hoping when they’re gone I’ll see an increase in customer count,” he said.

At Dana’s Dog Salon, across from Willoughby Road, owner Janice Chase hasn’t seen any decline in business, but has mixed feelings about the completion.

“I don’ t think there’s going to be any change,” Chase said.

Across the street from the dog salon, one of the traffic lanes was eliminated by new bump-outs, and Chase thinks this will hurt traffic.

“But I think it’s good that they’re taking care of the neighborhood,” she said.

About a block away, at Parkville Tag and Title Service, Linsay Randall works the front desk.
“Business has been cut in half,” Randall said.

As for surviving the construction, Randall said, “we’ll make it,” but July 16, when a 10-foot wide section of the sidewalk out front was being poured, many customers couldn’t get in the front door.

Though parts of Harford Road are a series of patched-over craters, the ride will soon be smooth.
“We’re going to start doing some grinding and paving at the southern end,” Gischlar said.

The paving work will be performed between about 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. beginning the week of July 27, according to Gischlar.

The asphalt paving can begin because most of the other work on the south end of the project area is complete, he said.

“Down at the southern end we’re really pretty well finished,” Gischlar said.
 
The next public information meeting regarding the streetscape improvement project will be held at on Aug. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Parkville Senior Center at Harford Road and Hiss Avenue.

---

user comments (0)