Roland Avenue Roadwork Could Begin Next Spring

City officials are hopeful roadwork intended to improve congestion along Roland Avenue will begin next spring.

During a presentation of plans at Roland Park Elementary and Middle School on Wednesday Jamie McDonald, a Department of Transportation engineering supervisor, said barring any setback the project could be finished by spring 2014.

The $3.5 million project includes:

• Resurfacing Roland Avenue from Northern Parkway to Cold Spring Lane
• A new traffic signal on Northern Parkway between Roland Avenue and N. Charles Street
• Modifying the median between on Roland Avenue in front of the Gilman School
• Traffic calming and enhancements along Roland Avenue, W. Cold Spring Lane and Wyndhurst Avenue

The goal of the project is to help reduce the congestion on Roland Avenue caused by the four schools:, , and .

Funds from the federal and city governments as well as from Bryn Mawr and Gilman are paying for the project.

But not all residents were happy with the project.

Nancy Maronick, president of the Bellona-Gittings Community Association, was concerned the traffic changes could result in more traffic coming through her neighborhood.

"My concern is that it will put more traffic on Lake Avenue," Maronick said.

She said that she has lived in the area for years and that she understand that it can be inconvenient waiting to get in and out of the area schools.

"But I don’t think the inconvenience equals the impact on other communities," she said.

What do you think of the proposed changes on Roland Avenue? Tell us in comments.