I-70 Congestion To Hagerstown? (Baltimore, Germantown: weekend getaway, job, housing)

[bluecountry]

I was driving back from West Maryland a few weeks back.
It was a Friday at sunset, almost 6 as I was in Washington County.
It was as expected, rural, mountains, fields…except in the distance I saw this ugly thing called light pollution.
Soon to follow as I approached I-81 on I-70 in Hagerstown…I was very surprised to see a steady stream of car headlights.
As I continued eastward the lights multiplied and the cars, while not stopping, were moving very slowly all through Hagerstown, Eastern Washington County…becoming quite slow at the Frederick County line.

I was shocked and very disappointed to see this because I had long enjoyed the scenery of West Maryland.
I thought Maryland had done a much better job than VA at regulating the random droppings of ugly sprawl.
After all, on I-270 in Upper Montgomery County, it gets rural there.
It seems odd that if Montgomery County is rural…and Frederick County long known for the dairy industry sitting in between…that Washington County would be suburbanized.

I had thought starting with Upper Montgomery County Maryland becomes rural…with some sprawl in Frederick but overall the rural character of Frederick County not in jeopardy much less that of Washington County.

After driving through I-70, this begged several questions

1) What is going on? What’s up with the steady traffic on I-70 from Frederick into Hagerstown?
-It’s not like there was an accident…I can’t think it was due to it being people getting away for skiing or trips.

2) Is Washington County and Hagerstown still rural…or is it becoming very much in jeopardy?
-To me, this makes little sense.
First Hagerstown is 70 MILES from DC and BAL…it is NOT near the city or close suburbs….thus it would seem WAY too distant for suburbanization.
Second, as stated, Montgomery County TWO counties nearer looks rural so why would Washington County FURTHER out be developed? You’d think the farther out you go the less developed.
Third, to get to Hagerstown you have to cross Sugarload/Catcocin/South Mountain...back in the old day the mountains spelled countryside...this is really odd to see it appear rural only to be built up again...what gives?
Fourth, I thought Maryland was good as far as limiting ugly sprawl…so why there be this big a problem in Washington County? Is the quality of life all but gone or can the county be saved?

3) If there is sprawl and development…what is fueling it? Again this county is 70 MILES from the city and out past the APPLACHIAS…you would think this would serve as a buffer making it a safe rural place. It really is sad to see a real frontier being colonized….is it hopeless this place will be bulldozed or could the rugged, historic rural quality be preserved?

4) Separate topic…but for those familiar with this region…how does it allegiances play out?
-Is this area more DC or BAL orientated…what’s the split?
-What about in the NFL….Redskin, Raven, Steeler?
-What about MLB………..Orioles, National?

Thanks!

[CHIP72]

I think you are mistaken to believe Montgomery County and to a lesser degree Frederick County are rural. They may have parts that look rural from I-270 or I-70, but much of their area is not. Developers generally don't like building housing developments right next to interstates.

As for the Hagerstown area/Washington County, the cost of housing in the DC area is forcing people who work there further and further away from the District to find affordable housing. Some of these people are going all the way to the Hagerstown area (not to mention the Martinsburg and Winchester areas further south on I-81 and also the Gettysburg area along US 15 to the east). Mind you, the percentage of people who live this far out from DC is small, but with the numbers of workers in the DC area that actual number of people isn't insignificant.

[westsideboy]

Bluecountry, I finally have the answers you are looking for. The Cumberland Times-News just released the results of a survey they conducted across their circulation area (Garrett and Allegany Counties in Maryland and Mineral, Hampshire and parts of Morgan, Grant, and Hardy Counties in West Virginia. 1000 people surveyed, here are the results.

Given these three choices, which of these MLB teams do you follow most closely?

Baltimore Orioles 52.57%
Pittsburgh Pirates 39.52%
Washington Nationals 7.90%

Given these three choices, which of the these NFL teams do you follow more closely?

Baltimore Ravens 22.59%
Pittsburgh Steelers 45.30%
Washington Redskins 32.10%

Your comments about the traffic in Washington and Frederick counties are right on. The counties are growing quickly and becoming populated. There is still a rural character to large parts of these counties, but they are away from the major transportation corridors.

[Debi18]

I think the traffic going west on 70 through Frederick into Hagerstown is usually only REALLY bad on Friday afternoons. Any other day it's heavy but pretty much moving at normal speed. Not sure why Fridays are so bad, my guess is a lot of people are heading to the mountains for weekend getaways and such.

[dkf747]

I've been through some really terrible traffic jams on 81 and 70 in the area, even on other days, but Friday is the worst.

[mom2boys37]

but once you pass that horrible 81 exit, you are clear sailing into cumberland than u get a little traffic than away u can go to Western Maryland

[bluecountry]

Why is I-70 packed...it's over the mountains SEVENTY MILES away?

[bluecountry]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Bluecountry, I finally have the answers you are looking for. The Cumberland Times-News just released the results of a survey they conducted across their circulation area (Garrett and Allegany Counties in Maryland and Mineral, Hampshire and parts of Morgan, Grant, and Hardy Counties in West Virginia. 1000 people surveyed, here are the results.

Given these three choices, which of these MLB teams do you follow most closely?

Baltimore Orioles 52.57%
Pittsburgh Pirates 39.52%
Washington Nationals 7.90%

Given these three choices, which of the these NFL teams do you follow more closely?

Baltimore Ravens 22.59%
Pittsburgh Steelers 45.30%
Washington Redskins 32.10%

Your comments about the traffic in Washington and Frederick counties are right on. The counties are growing quickly and becoming populated. There is still a rural character to large parts of these counties, but they are away from the major transportation corridors.

Do you have a link?

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by bluecountry

After driving through I-70, this begged several questions

1) What is going on? What’s up with the steady traffic on I-70 from Frederick into Hagerstown?

A lot of people have relocated over the years from parts of PA to the DC metro - I am one of them. A lot of these people go "home" on weekends. Especially holiday weekends. Plus it's two-lane each way, vs. 3-4 lanes closer in top DC. When you add that to the usual I-70 trafic, you get the traffic that you experienced.

Originally Posted by bluecountry

2) Is Washington County and Hagerstown still rural…or is it becoming very much in jeopardy? ...first Hagerstown is 70 MILES from DC and BAL…it is NOT near the city or close suburbs….thus it would seem WAY too distant for suburbanization...so why would Washington County FURTHER out be developed? You’d think the farther out you go the less developed.

Frederick is a satellite city of the DC Metro, and a major employer in it's own right. It is very large part of the engine of development for Washington County. [/quote]

Originally Posted by bluecountry

3) If there is sprawl and development…what is fueling it? Again this county is 70 MILES from the city and out past the APPLACHIAS…you would think this would serve as a buffer making it a safe rural place.

Don't think of the whole region in terms of only the "big city" (in this case DC). Although the whole area is affected by DC, the development you see is more related to Frederick, Winchester, etc (along with Germantown, Gaithersburg).

Btw, the traffic will only get worse! Sorry to be the messenger, but there is currently extensive industrial development taking place along I-270 from the Montgomery/Frederick line, for about 10 miles into Frederick County.

[westsideboy]

Cumberland Times-News - Homepage might still have the results posted. You will have to do a little digging.

I second everything Tim Rankin said. Most of the Washington County suburbanites don't drive all of the way into D.C. everyday. Remember Hagerstown is only 25 miles from Frederick and about 45 to Gaithersburg and Rockville, perfectly normal communting distance.