OELLA, Md. — At the corner of Fredrick Road and Oella Avenue, you may notice something is missing.
Across from the historic mill, the sign that once proudly announced the Oella neighborhood alongside the “Welcome to Historic Ellicott City” sign, is now just bits and pieces.
Mixed throughout, are the broken auto parts left behind after Baltimore County police say a car struck a curb before rolling into the ditch overnight on Monday, January 12.
Safety concerns resurface after car crash shatters neighborhood sign on Frederick Road
It happened around 12:44 a.m. Police say the driver was uninjured and issued citations before they were released from the scene.
The responding officer did not document any signs of impairment.
The citations include driving without a license, driving while suspended and failure to display license to uniformed police on demand.
“I saw the sign and the park bench was just obliterated,” John Locke, a neighbor who photographed the damage while on a run Monday night, said.
The small section by the river crossing is known as the Ellicott City/Oella Entrance Garden, and though owned by the mill, represents a labor of love by neighbors and local organizations who’ve helped with the upkeep.
The crash has resurfaced neighbors’ concerns about the area, and more specifically Frederick Road, which attracts many pedestrians and cyclists due to its proximity to trails and challenging hills.
“You hear stories all the time. Anybody who lives around here long enough, knows that this road has a reputation for being patently unsafe,” Locke said.
In 2016, the sales manager of The Cycle Mill died after he was hit by a car on the road while trying to rescue a dog.
Petitioning for changes
In late 2024, he and other neighbors petitioned the State Highway Administration to make adjustments to MD-144. But those efforts did not lead to much meaningful change, at least, in the way neighbors wanted to see like narrowing the road.
"It has more of a highway feel and encourages you to drive faster than what the posted speed limit says,” Locke said. “There's nothing about Frederick Road that's engineered to ask you to slow down and be more mindful of how you're driving.”
SHA did acknowledge speeding concerns, as evidenced by an email chain reviewed by WMAR-2 News between Locke, other neighbors, state delegates and senators as well as SHA engineer Claudine Myers.
Out of the traffic calming options considered, Myers wrote that the administration only recommended increased police enforcement. She also noted a number of prior crashes had happened at night or while the road was wet and suggested recent resurfacing would help improve driving during the latter conditions, as well as additional lighting.
“Heavily, heavily, heavily trafficked road. This is a major artery to transport people all the time,” cyclist Pierre Stewart said. “You're going to have speed coming off the hill like that. But we've got to be cognizant, gotta put more signs up, we've got to put more flashing lights up.”
Stewart, who has his own safety devices on his bike like a camera and a system that alerts him when cars are nearby, says the more efforts for safety, the better.
“We want to stay protected at all times, being safe out here is everything. I want to go home to my wife and to my family,” Stewart said.
In the meantime, Locke says he'll continue to advocate for changes.
"If this is what encourages the State Highway Administration to make real engineering improvements that would be great. Because the alternative is that somebody gets hit, injured and killed. God forbid,” he said.
