On Tuesday, September 28, a peaceful band of demonstrators, identifying themselves with paper banners marked SOS (Support Overpass for Students) marched from QAC high school to the Liberty building in downtown Centreville.
Their cause was to raise awareness of the deadly 301/304 interchange, the traffic hotspot where 15-year-old Connor Rice lost his life less than two weeks prior. Rice’s has been the fifth death at the interchange since 2005.
Met by the board of commissioners, the one-hundred strong crowd of students and parents’ chants of “over-pass” eventually died out as Vice President Phil Dumenil called for a moment of silence for the Rice family.
Dumenil emphasized the board’s sympathies with the community, particularly their demands for the overpass. Dumenil was quick to add, however, that the county currently lacks the authority to create the desired overpass, sufficient funds or not, because the highway in question is state owned, thus requiring approval from the State Highway Administration. This, the commissioners said, would involve taking the case to Annapolis.
“Even if we had the $50 million, we couldn’t— because it’s not our road,” said Dumenil.
According to the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer, SHA spokespeople have estimated that constructing an overpass at the site would currently cost at least $60 million.
Meanwhile, as a $1.5 million stopgap solution, the SHA has been working on a J-turn at the intersection since last week. It will be completed sometime in the spring, according to reports in the Record-Observer.
“It’s not the overpass we wanted, but it will help,” said one of the commissioners.
“But other J-turns don’t have truck stops so close!” said a women in the crowd.
On Nov. 1 officials from the SHA will be present for a hearing at the county commissioners office at the Liberty Building in downtown Centreville. One particularly active member of the community, Barb Burkhardt, has been leading a petition to make the SHA build the overpass. She will be presenting the petition, which she hopes will obtain 5,000 signatures, on this day. She is also responsible for a Facebook group, Support Overpass 4 Students.
“Are you doing to be behind us, do we have access to you, to point us in the direction we need to go?” Said one crowd member to the commissioners, referring to the Nov. 1 hearing.
“This is the unity we need to bring to this building on November 1,” said Dumenil to a warm applause. “We don’t want to be pushed down this priority list any longer. I will be there to make sure our voices are heard in Annapolis regarding this.”
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