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Seton Hill Neighborhood Association
Special Orchard Street Meeting
Wednesday 30 July 2008
This meeting was called to discuss opening the south end of Orchard Street which currently has a cul-du-sac.
When I arrived, they were discussing the Paca Street Car Massacre. The police officer told the tow truck drivers to relocate the vehicles but they decided to take them to the impound lot instead.
Half of us at the meeting were from Seton Hill. There were also city and state representatives, a representative from Orchard Mews, and two representatives from the church.
Department of Transportation did a traffic study for Seton Hill. They are on board with the concept of opening Orchard Street and so is the Police Department. The Canaan Baptist Church disagrees. The pastor said that it would enhance the drug traffic and speed. On Sundays there are people on motorcycles out there. He is going to fight it to the last straw.
Bryan disagrees. He thinks that the drug traffic could not increase. It is already at its peak. He wants the police to be able to come in quickly and make their arrests. There is an isolated spot there.
The reverend said that it is not the residents. Many of the cars there are there to visit.
Major John Bailey said that we can put police there to issue citations.
Mico said that we have a bad street configuration.
When the houses were built, the cul-du-sac was not there. This was '60 planning. The reverend wants research on why it was put in. He wants to know the reason they were put in and their advantage to the Fire Department, Police Department, and neighborhood. This is an old model and is now being retracted.
Mico told about future plans. We know that Orchard Street and Saint Mary Street need speed bumps. We do not want Orchard Street used for cut through traffic.
The reverend said that on Sunday his congregation fills up the parking lot owned by the Urban League and flow son to the streets. They sometimes use Saint Mary Street.
The question of posted speed limit signs was raised. Major Bailey will look into that. The law is that if no sign is posted, then the speed limit in the city is 25 mph.
Right now it is extremely hard for the police to get into the area. This will make quick access into the area for them.
Tessier Street is too narrow to be the main exit. We cannot widen it. Karen said that you can widen it only inches. Bob of Planning said that it is not a main street. Major Bailey said that before they start widening, they would have parking on one side only.
Bryan said that having more cars in the way will help with the motorcycles.
If you can give the police the location of illegal dirt bikes, they will come and get them. They cannot own nor keep them in the city. You also cannot keep a can of gas in your house.
We are talking about opening just the south end of Orchard Street.
We are only planning There is nothing in the capital budget. We should be able to do this in two or three years. We would like to get the speed bumps as soon as possible. The representative from Orchard Mews said that if we do Orchard Street, we need to do Half Mile Court also. Jennifer had suggested that this could be built into the Pennsylvania Avenue plan. She was not at the meeting this evening.
The reverend said that Saint Mary Street also needs speed bump.
We have the support of the Planning Department and Councilman Cole.
BGE got in just before the TIS [Traffic Impact Study].
The State Center is a 10-20 year plan. It is just in the infancy state right now.
The lighting on Orchard Street is bad. Tree trimming is needed. Councilman Cole is working on it. The Orchard Mews installed lighting on their side of the street. The City is looking into doing something about the lighting on the other side.
Sgt. Charles Hess put in several calls to 3-1-1 and so far he has not had a great deal of success. He talked with a man from Forestry. Brittany Donald, from Congressman Cole's office, was gthere and heard them talking about it.
Mark Brown from Baltimore City Department of Transportation said that this project will come from DOT budget. The Pennsylvania Avenue project is north of Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Our project would be between $75,000 and $85,000. Our councilman is willing to push very hard for this project.
At the suggestion of Bob from Planning, we took a field trip to the corner in question.
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