BRAC impact on Route 198 is reviewed

Study will present options to handle influx of traffic from military base

The project is being undertaken in preparation for the planned 2011 completion of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process at Fort Meade.

Kameel Holmes, SHA Project Planning Division project manager, said resident feedback would help determine the project’s next step.

The project, which will be in the planning phase until 2011 and will eventually affect 3.5 miles of roadway, is intended to address the BRAC-spurred increases in population, housing, traffic and commercial activity on Route 198.

BRAC, which will consolidate military operations at bases nationwide, including Fort Meade, is expected to bring upward of 14,000 jobs to the area, according to the Anne Arundel County Web site.

The date of the undertakings’ completion will depend on funding from both the state and the federal government, Holmes said.

Anne Arundel County has funded the project through the planning stage with $4.5 million, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation Web site.

Among the Route 198 improvement options are an estimated $10 million to $20 million minor widening of the Route 198⁄Route 295 ramp and an estimated $162 million and $182 million extensive widening and improvement of bicycle and pedestrian paths on the road’s southern side.

‘‘There comes a time when a road needs widening,” said Maryland City resident Carol Buczynski. ‘‘Route 198 can’t hold all that traffic.”

Interchange options for the road include a flyover ramp, which would allow traffic going north on Route 32 to head west on Route 198, as well as options to replace two roundabouts on Route 198 with signalized intersections.

Resident Helen Kozireski said she favored alternatives that call for bike path improvements.

‘‘It looks like the most cost-effective and with the bicycle pathways it would be great because of gas prices the way they are,” she said.

She said she would be glad to see the roundabouts gone.

‘‘They are the worst thing ever,” she said, citing the need when entering one to yield to numerous cars in the circle.

Robert Leib, special assistant for BRAC⁄Education at the office of Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold (R), called the public workshop ‘‘a milestone.”

‘‘It’s very important that the state, ourselves [in Anne Arundel County] and the feds ... do everything we can so we can reach the day BRAC is going to be done,” he said. ‘‘The key is we don’t lose ground.”