Roadwork Ties Up Washington Ave. Through Year End

As Yogi Berra might say, they're getting so much work done that nobody can get any work done.

For commuters in Towson, that's been the story of two major projects: a resurfacing on Joppa Road at the Towson Circle and a large streetscape project on Washington Avenue between Pennsylvania and Susquehanna avenues.

The Joppa Road work shut down the east side of the Towson Circle for two weeks, while the Washington Avenue project is a six-month, $900,000 effort scheduled to continue into early 2011.

Streets have been closed since July 19 for the work, which includes adding trees, planters and decorative brickwork in front of the courthouse facade.

Only half of Washington Avenue will remain closed during the project. Right now, the portion between Bankers Way and Susquehanna Avenue is closed. At some point during the project, work will move to the other side of the block.

According to David Fidler, spokesman for Baltimore County's Bureau of Highways, the work is generally proceeding as planned, save for "unexpected little discoveries."

"There had been some problems, and I would say they're unexpected but on a retrofit job like this, there are usually difficulties to get the whole thing to fit together," he said.