Route 210, running from Indian Head north to Forest Heights and into Washington D.C., holds a notorious reputation. County Executive Alsobrooks labeled 210 as “a death trap” in a 2019 press briefing, and state transportation officials estimate over 80 traffic fatalities in the hundreds of accidents that have occurred on 210 since 2007.
The MD 210 Traffic Safety Committee has been working since 2017 with local elected officials, the Prince George’s County Police Department, and the Maryland State Highway Administration to address safety concerns on Route 210 and through the efforts of the Committee and a host of support from a wide range of groups and individuals, three speed cameras and several improvements were made on Route 210 in 2019.
Tamara Davis Brown, Reverend Dr. Robert L. Screen, Pastor Stephanie Bynum, all members of the Traffic Safety Committee, gathered this weekend with Senator Obie Patterson, Delegate Kris Valderrama, Council Chairman Calvin Hawkins, Deputy Chief Administrator Floyd Holt, and leaders from Fort Washington and Accokeek to cut the ribbon on the recently completed Interchange Project.
The newly-completed Interchange Project replaces an intersection of 210 at Kerby Hill Road and Livingston Road with an interchange and access ramps that improve safety, mobility and alleviate travel congestion by controlling merging traffic onto MD 210, both northbound and southbound. The Maryland State Highway Administration removed two traffic signals, one at Wilson Bridge Drive and the other at the intersection of Kerby Hill and Livingston roads. SHA also installed new traffic signals on the overpass.
Other enhancements to improve safety and traffic management on 210 include aligning Kerby Hill Road, new outside shoulders and a new service road parallel to southbound MD 210 that will serve area residents and transit. SHA also will remove the median crossover south of Alcoa Drive and build a right-in/right-out turn movement connecting to the northbound MD 210 service road.
When Traffic Safety Committee member Tamara Davis Brown was asked what her future goals for the coalition are, she said “renewing the speed camera legislation, increasing the fine for excessive speeders and repeat offenders, increasing the number of cameras, and additional funding for more improvements.”