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Parkway back on Thurmont maps

(6/5) Though it is an imaginary line on a map, the planned Thurmont industrial parkway has caused a lot of conversation between the Frederick County commissioners, Thurmont commissioners and members of the community.

The proposed alignment for where such a parkway will run has been on, off and once again on the map of the Thurmont Region Plan.

Though once a fairly general arc that ran north of Thurmont from Carroll Street Extended to Route 15, the current route runs along the town’s growth boundary except for where it moves off the boundary to go around the homes on Holstein Court.

“We were asked to do an alternate route and we have. We are happy with what we came up with and we’re pleased you’re happy with what we came up with,” Thurmont Planning and Zoning Chairman John Kinnaird told the county commissioners when they approved the new alignment.

Kinnaird pointed out that the route is dependent on getting an interchange built at Franklinville Road and Route 15.

The parkway is not a high priority for the state, though. It has been on Thurmont planning maps since the 1970’s. Because it was on the map for so long without getting funding was one reason County Commissioner John Thompson said it should be removed.

“So we’re just putting a line on a map without any intention of getting it built,” Thompson said during the commissioners meeting that approved the new alignment.
However, many others pointed out that if it wasn’t on the map at all, there would be no way to put the process in motion if an opportunity opened up.

Commission President Jan Gardner acknowledged that the various alignments have caused concern among nearby residents. “There is no panacea road here from what I can tell,” she said.

Even the current alignment is only a placeholder and the final road, if and when it is built, is unlikely to look just like any of the alignments that have been proposed.

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