(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.
