Recently, there has been an attempt at the university to unclog the mess that is Route 1. Officials are trying to promote awareness of several entrances to the university that can and should be used by visitors as well as students in an attempt to make Route 1 as mobile as possible.
The most recent of these efforts has been the placement of signs that direct motorists to the university on roads other than Route 1, such as New Hampshire and Kenilworth avenues.
Let me first say I think anything that attempts to free up Route 1 cannot be a bad thing. Being a commuter and having tried to avoid the road ever since I started driving (I live in and grew up in the area), I am 100 percent behind any project that will make the road more manageable.
While I back the project’s intentions, I am a little confused as to the placement of the signs. It seems like a good idea to let people know there are accessible entrances from these surrounding streets, but I would think commuters who come from local areas and use these streets on a daily basis would already know the closest entrance to them. For instance, if a student has an apartment in Riverdale Heights, he or she most likely would use Kenilworth Avenue to Paint Branch Parkway to get to the university as opposed to taking East-West Highway to Route 1. And if they don’t, they probably need to familiarize themselves with the area a bit better.
These new signs seem to be very ill-placed for their intended audience, which one can only assume consists of visitor Terp enthusiasts on their way to a game. Assuming most of these visitors come from somewhere in Maryland, it is not unreasonable to expect them to know their closest entrance. They will likely be using the Capital Beltway as their primary means of getting to College Park. From there, the signs direct them to the closest exit to campus – the entrance on Route 1. To make matters worse, it is recommended on the university website that drivers take the Route 1 exit. Even the directions to Comcast Center for basketball games tell motorists to take the Route 1 exit from the Beltway to Route 193, even though the closest entrance is located directly on Route 193 and is easily accessed without the use of Route 1 from a Kenilworth Avenue or Greenbelt Road exit from 495.
In addition to this flaw in the placement of these new signs, there is also the simple truth that while the university causes much of the traffic on Route 1, there are other factors to be considered. Businesses are stuck together like townhouses all along Route 1, and the area continues to be developed. There is an overflow of retail stores and a severe lack of space. Not only is Route 1 primarily a four-lane road – making commuting to your destination in itself a challenge – but there is not enough space to park in front of most of these stores. Furthermore, with all these booming businesses on one road, motorists are constantly turning off and onto the main road, and with only two lanes this process can be difficult and dangerous, causing traffic backups and much frustration.
I believe university officials have a very good idea in promoting the use of routes other than the main one, Route 1, but they must focus more on their audience. Signs on the Beltway need to give motorists alternatives to Route 1. From the Beltway, it is sometimes logical to take Kenilworth Avenue to Greenbelt Road if one wishes to enter the university’s south campus on Route 193. Routes such as this one not only need to be suggested on the Beltway, but on the school’s website as well. Doing this could potentially alleviate some of the congestion on Route 1 and make the lives of all university commuters just a bit easier.
Megan Maizel is a sophomore philosophy and American studies major. She can be reached at mmaizel@umd.edu.
