A conversation about whether to approve the change of an access point on Rosewick Road turned into a greater dialogue about traffic concerns during Tuesday’s Charles County commissioner meeting.
It started when Andrew Balchin, chief of infrastructure, presented a plan to modify parts of the Rosewick Road access management plan.
The plan lays out locations for openings in the median and at various points on the road in La Plata as determined by the county.
Balchin presented a plan that calls for the movement of an access point on Rosewick Road near Radio Station Road forward 35 feet to better align with construction of the Pinegrove development.
The request to move the access point was made to align with the construction of a road that would serve multi-family homes and a commercial center planned to be built.
According to a copy of the presentation obtained by Southern Maryland News, county commissioners have the authority to approve amendments to road access points.
While the change was characterized as administrative by Steve Scott, attorney at Scott Law LLC, the movement drew concerns from Commissioner Gilbert “BJ” Bowling (D), who was wary of heavy traffic on the road.
“Thirty-five feet could be a huge difference,” Bowling said. “I always looked at Rosewick Road as kind of I guess a highway that relieves some of the congestion off [Route] 301, so some of these questions I’m asking are because of that.”
Bowling then asked if it was the right time to bring up moving the access point, citing traffic studies into the area that were in progress.
However, Scott argued that the change in question was not large enough to warrant much scrutiny.
“This particular request, with all due respect, is very minuscule in terms of the project overall,” Scott said.
That did little to sway Bowling or Commissioner Amanda Stewart (D), who recommended the topic be shelved until approvals for the housing and commercial aspect were given final OKs by the town of La Plata.
However, when asked by Commissioner Thomasina “Sina” Coates (D) if delaying would cause any issues with the project, Scott said there would be no issues in the project as the intersection would have to be moved either way.
Commissioner Vice President Ralph E. Patterson II (D) also asked for clarification on whether the intersection being moved was an inevitability.
“It’s going in no matter what; it’s what I’m hearing,” Patterson said.
Scott then confirmed the assertion.
A pair of votes were then taken, first a vote on a motion to table the discussion until approval from La Plata on the multi-family housing and commercial shopping portion of the project, which failed 2-3. Bowling and Stewart voted for the measure and Commissioner President Reuben B. Collins II (D) joined Patterson and Coates in voting against the amendment.
Then, a vote to pass the amendment as written passed 3-2 with Patterson, Collins and Coates in agreement.
Twitter: @DarrylSoMdNews
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