Glade Road Improvements
Improvements to Glade Road in Walkersville continued this week. The Burgess and Town Commissioners decided in January of 2013 to make improvements to the stretch of road leading to the Walkersville Southern Railroad tracks. Work began last month and has continued.
Glade Road improvements include paving, installation of curb and gutter, and stormwater work. Despite Town policy, a sidewalk will not be installed along Glade Road. During the meeting on January 9, 2013, Commissioner Don Schildt, a resident along this stretch of road, told the Burgess and Town Commissioners that the residents along the road were willing to accept curb and gutter, but did not want sidewalks. As a result, the commissioners decided not to include a sidewalk in engineering plans. The Burgess and Commissioners awarded Arro Consulting, Inc. a $17,748 for engineering services to improve Glade Road in March of 2013. Those services did not include plans for a sidewalk.
That decision sparked some discussion during a recent meeting of the Walkersville Planning Commission. When members asked a developer to include sidewalks along the property, Planning Commission member John Zimmerman pointedly stated that such a request would be hypocritical. He expressed his dismay that the town commissioners would not install a sidewalk during Glade Road improvements as required by the Town Code. The developer offered to build a sidewalk along MD 194, but did not commit to a sidewalk along Fountain Rock Road.
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