Talbot Thrive writes to voice our strong support for the Town of Easton’s request to the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration for a Safety Corridor designation on U.S. Route 50. We want to applaud Mayor Megan Cook and Police Chief Alan Lowrey for getting out ahead of this issue.
The numbers make the case plainly. Talbot County crash records show 415 police-reported crashes at five Route 50 intersections between 2019 and August of this year, including two fatalities, both rear-end collisions caused by drivers going too fast for conditions. In 2021 alone, two of the county’s five traffic deaths happened at intersections on this same stretch of road, 40 percent of that year’s total.
The timing could not be more pressing. SHA is in the middle of a $9.9 million project adding sidewalks and signalized crosswalks to this corridor, work that will, for the first time, put people on foot and on bikes into regular contact with traffic moving at speeds well above what the road allows. The stretch where these sidewalks are going in is posted at 35 miles per hour, yet drivers routinely ignore that limit today. We already know people cross Route 50 here without a signal, and we hope the new crosswalks, signals, and an automated speed camera system down the road will make this corridor safer for all users, especially the most vulnerable among us who don’t have a car. At the same time, Maryland’s new Vulnerable Road User Protection Act, effective October 1, finally gives the state and local jurisdictions the authority to put speed cameras on corridors like this one, not just school zones.
Mayor Cook and Chief Lowrey recognized that these two pieces, the construction underway and the new law taking effect, would not stay lined up forever, and they acted. Their request to SHA deserves the backing of everyone who uses Route 50 through Easton, on foot, on a bike, or behind the wheel.
Heather Grant
Executive Director, Talbot Thrive
12 Responses
It is disappointing that three Talbot County Council members have delayed the county’s formal support of the Town’s request for Route 50 traffic safety cameras. By failing to support these vital safety measures, this council is neglecting its fundamental responsibility to prioritize the safety and well-being of Talbot County citizens.
Automated enforcement can provide a consistent way to encourage drivers to obey posted speed limits and traffic signals. Just as importantly, this approach would not require active-duty law enforcement officers to routinely patrol roads and intersections solely for the purpose of monitoring speeding or red-light violations. That would save valuable law enforcement resources and allow officers to focus their time and attention on more serious crimes, emergencies, and other matters where their presence is truly needed.
I urge all Council Members to support the town’s request.
Obviously too late, but wouldn’t a pedestrian/bicycle overpass have been a simpler and safer (and faster for everyone) traffic crossing solution for Rt. 50 through Easton? Cheaper also??
I like your idea about an overpass, one wouldn’t have to worry about drivers ignoring the speed limit, walkways, makes me think of the safety overpasses in california to help wildlife, in particular, mountain lions that were blocked from getting to other places for reproduction, gene dispursal.
And, upon learning there is soon to be a pedestrian crossing on Rt. 50 in Easton, wouldn’t even interstate traffic (and their route-selecting GPS devices) learn to simply take Rt. 322 (the bypass) around Easton?
Route 50 runs through the middle of Easton, and we are about to start walking across it.
Talbot Thrive laid out the case in the Spy this weekend, and the numbers are not in dispute: 415 police-reported crashes at five Route 50 intersections since 2019. Two fatalities, both caused by drivers going too fast. In 2021, two of the five traffic deaths in this entire county happened on that one stretch of road.
Right now the State Highway Administration is spending $9.9 million putting sidewalks and signalized crosswalks along that corridor. That work will put people on foot and on bikes into regular contact with traffic for the first time. The posted limit there is 35. Nobody who drives it thinks that’s the speed people are going.
Maryland’s Vulnerable Road User Protection Act takes effect October 1. It finally gives the state the authority to designate corridors like this one. SHA’s own district engineer wrote to Easton and to the County asking for letters of support. Mayor Cook and Chief Lowrey moved. The Easton Town Council sent its letter.
On September 8, the Talbot County Council didn’t.
Council President Callahan’s first question was whether this was “somewhat of a speed trap situation.” Councilman Stepp said he would be voting no because the request was “too wide open.” They sent Easton’s deputy chief of police back to the mayor and put the item off.
Here’s what troubles me about that. What’s before the Council is a letter supporting a safety corridor designation. The designation comes first. Siting decisions come after — the County Manager told the Council that evening it hasn’t been designed out yet. So the Council is withholding support until it gets answers that cannot exist until the thing it’s being asked to support actually happens. That isn’t diligence. That’s a way of not deciding.
Councilman Lesher had it right: “I don’t know what more there is to learn about this at this juncture.”
I don’t think anyone on that dais wants people hurt on Route 50. Mr. Callahan said we’re all striving for the same thing, and I take him at his word. But a letter of support costs the County nothing, commits it to nothing, and signals to Annapolis that Talbot is serious about the safety of people who cross that highway on foot or by bicycle, or indeed travel it in a vehicle. If the Council wants specifics on camera placement, ask for them as a condition — and send the letter.
The Council takes this up again Tuesday, September 22, at 5 p.m. at the Courthouse. Comments go to publiccomment@talbotcountymd.gov.
Let’s make Route 50 safe for all.
— Brian Naranjo, Candidate for Talbot County Council
Route 50 did not always run through the middle of Easton. Population growth has created this situation. I don’t agree with the sidewalks on the highway to engage pedestrian traffic. Hopefully there will be forced only access to cross by putting barriers in the median to prevent random crossings. Ocean City is a good example of this.
Thank you for the excellent letter and responses. Speed is a longtime issue not only on Rte, 50, but also in our neighborhoods. For example, I reside on an Easton northside avenue friendly to children and seniors – specifically, in the St. Aubins neighborhood, west of Washington Street. Our avenue effectively has become the east-west connector, the crosstown expressway for our good eastside neighbors to reach westside retail outlets located on and across Easton Parkway – some not so good, speeding and failing to stop where posted. Our residents are grateful that EPD already has parked unmarked cars on our avenue, a good sign of actions to come. ….. Just as MdSHA needs to beef up electronic speed locators, so does Easton’s Finest need to install this equipment in our neighborhood, to protect our children and senior citizens. With every best wish.
Thank you Ms. Grant for bringing Rt. 50 front of mind.
Given the statistics and my own experiences, the failure of three County Council members to support a request to the State Highway Department for a Safety Corridor Designation is unfathomable. When possible, I ,like many other citizens of Talbot County, avoid crossing Rt. 50 at all costs. Thanks to the status quo with Rt 50, we are effectively two Towns: West Easton and Easton East.
Given the current and ever-growing traffic loadings of Rt. 50, I respectfully request the Talbot County Council to not only support the current request to the SHA but also to begin planning for both vehicular and pedestrian overpasses for the safety and convenience of Talbot County citizens. Like so much else, this initiative will probably have to wait until a new Council is seated. In the meantime, I encourage Ms. Grant, Talbot Thrive and other like-minded members of our community to keep this issue on the public agenda.
Hugh M Smith
Citizen of West Easton
Watch this space tonight: https://talbotcountymd.gov/About-Us/County_Council/council-meeting-videos
Two weeks ago, the State Highway Administration asked Talbot County for a letter supporting a speed safety corridor on Route 50 through Easton. The case is already on the record: 415 police-reported crashes at five intersections since 2019. Two deaths, both from drivers going too fast. New sidewalks and crosswalks going in right now, on a stretch posted at 35 that nobody drives at 35.
Easton’s mayor, police chief and Town Council signed on. On September 8, the County Council didn’t. The item was supposed to come back tonight, Tuesday, September 22.
Now I’m hearing it’s been pulled from the agenda.
So some questions worth asking:
– Will it actually be on tonight’s agenda, or not?
– If it’s been pulled, who pulled it? Council President Callahan sets the agenda. On September 8, his first question was whether this was “somewhat of a speed trap situation.”
– How will Councilman Stepp explain his position? He announced he’d vote no because the request didn’t say exactly how many cameras or where. But you can’t site cameras on a corridor that hasn’t been designated yet. That’s the order the law sets. A letter of support costs the County nothing and commits it to nothing.
I’m told Easton intends to move forward without the County. If so, Talbot will have taken itself out of the room — that is made itself irrelevant — on the most dangerous road in the county, for drivers, walkers and cyclists alike.
Tune in or come in person. Public comment is open at every meeting, and the Council should hear from you.
Tonight, 5 p.m., Talbot County Courthouse, 11 N. Washington St., Easton. Watch live: https://talbotcountymd.gov/About-Us/County_Council/council-meeting-videos
Written comments: publiccomment@talbotcountymd.gov
Let’s make Route 50 safe for all.
— Brian Naranjo, Candidate for Talbot County Council
Bishop, you are so right. Speeding is a problem all over this county. Whether it’s Rt 50, busy two lane roads, country roads, or our neighborhoods. Often people zoom past our house on West Chew; we don’t even have time to say, WOW! The first Show Stopper is:
“It’s beach season” and it will often stop us going to Easton! The second Show Stopper is: Do we have to cross Rt 50? Any efforts to address traffic and speeding is very appreciated.
No matter how many speed signs, lights for pedestrians to cross Rt. 50 (a major highway), etc are put into place, they can not stop Stupidity and drivers who are selfish and will Always try to get through a light even though it has already turned red. Easton needs more police period, especially along Rt. 50, to enforce the speed signs and give out more tickets to those choosing to ignore the laws. Maybe once drivers get the message that Easton is Serious about trying to make this dangerous and extremely busy stretch of highway safer. Oxford is a good example of drivers respecting speed signs, but even so, there have been some tragic accidents.
I also avoid crossing Rt. 50 at All costs even though there are businesses on the East side I would like to frequent. Several years ago I miraculously escaped serious injuries, or worse, when making a left turn from Idlewild Ave. onto Rt. 50 West with a green light. I was the 3rd car to start to cross (all Eastbound lanes were stopped) and just as I was pulling out, a speeding car appeared out of nowhere driving on the Median and somehow missed hitting my drivers side by just a fraction of a second! The young driver never slowed down and kept going. Thank God we both weren’t killed instantly! Like I said earlier, you can Never fix stupidity! If there had been an officer stationed at this dangerous intersection, perhaps the careless driver would have been stopped, and at the very least been given a substantial ticket and several points. Merging onto westbound Rt. 50 from what used to be the “by-pass” is another hazardous area that really needs a light.
Sadly, I believe it is wishful thinking to make anywhere truly safe!
I believe that “rumble” strips placed a good way before each traffic light from Dutchman’s lane, all the way to Airport Rd, would slow speeders and red-light runners down & be a fairly affordable deterrent. People do like to hold on to their teeth & dentures!