Seems like the traffic calming ideas aren't calming anyone.

Does anyone else think that this sign/monument is a ridiculous waste of space? Does a roundabout really need to be labeled? How about monument to a local civic hero or a fancy flower planter instead? Better yet, how about replacing some of the trees?

HOW ABOUT SOME HUGE BOLDERS

HOW ABOUT SOME HUGE BOLDERS THE SIZE OF A VW.MAYBE THE DRUNKS CAN SEE THAT

The driver that did the damage should be responsible for the payment to get the monument fixed properly.

All this to avoid having a traffic light!

Seems to be working. Not!

How about a tribute to one of Maryland's fallen service members with ties to our community? I like the idea of some boulders or something else that'll stop the drunks from plowing into the center of the circle too.

Gee, we never had that happen with old traffic light. The MDOT people told us at the meetings (where just about everyone was against the trafic circle I might add) that this would save money because it didn't require electricity or maintenance! I wonder how much we've spent on repairing and maintaining this thing since it's been put in.

I think the traffic circles are awful because some people do not know how to drive in them. What exactly is the purpose of a traffic circle. It is another way of taking risks. I hate them.

I would sure hope that the parties driving and causing this damage picks up the tab. If not you need some new board members and turn these claims over to the associations attorney tonprosecute. Round sboutd are efficient and move traffic faster but the State shouldn't be putting them in without educating all drivers how to navigate through them. Now the State is putting in more expense to paint unnecessary lane markers and poles that only add to the confusion of drivers. Lights need to shine on the monument after dusk so it is more visible. Granted Im rarely in that area at night so if there are lights 'on and around" the monument now, gurss they need brighter ones.

I don't drive in that area after dark, either, but one of the comments above mentions that the roundabout was supposed to save money because "it doesn't require electricity." If that's so--they should at least install some solar-powered spotlights. Changing the configuration of the roundabout so that 18-wheelers can no longer run one onto the bricks when they want to proceed toward Crofton as you want to turn into the Piney Orchard shopping center was useful--that happened to me in broad daylight, one sunny Saturday afternoon--but roundabouts are a European concept that remains a novelty here. Nonetheless: that's a reason for caution, if you don't know how they work--not ploughing through them like a bulldozer. If you want to see accidents waiting to happen, travel periodically over the Wilson Bridge into Virginia: the persistent reconfigurations there are not only mind-boggling, but dangerous, as the flyover in Springfield was when it was being built. People in this area have an obsession with being first--on the road, on the streets, on the trains and Metro--so it is perhaps a little naive to expect them to yield (as they must) to the traffic in a roundabout, or to suppress the urge to beat other cars into the circle. (I very nearly avoided an accident at 5:30 AM last week when a truck coming off 32 onto 175 ignored the yield sign, and tried to cut in ahead of me. I was on 175, so had the right of way--but that didn't seem to faze this driver, either.)

The driver has paid in the past. The issue is that this is a pathetic excuse for traffic calming that needs to go. It was a pathetic decision made, in part, by the POCA Board. The entire circle needs to be re-done so that it is a two way circle instead of a four way lane. Or better yet - a traffic light.

If you want to complain about useless traffic calming, let's complain about the "circle" outside of the development that I live in off Strawberry Lake. Nobody coming in out of the developments on either side go around the circle, they just "turn" right and left and thereby are going directly into oncoming traffic. It's ridiculous. I can't tell you how many times I've almost been hit head-on because people don't want to take the extra few seconds to obey the circle. I agree, it's a dumb circle, but it's there so people should pay attention.

This "dumb" traffic circle probably saved a life. The Vehicle went straight through and jumped two curbs which indicates speed was a factor.

Traffic light or not, this idiot would have blown through the intersection and quite possible have hit an oncoming vehicle.

Megan is absolutely right people should pay attention.

People drive crazy around that circle, its a nice idea but doesn't "calm" traffic.

Keep in mind that this circle is probably impeding dump truck traffic that would be destined for the landfill off of Patuxent road near Woodwardville - install a big traffic light there and you have removed one more impediment to turning this area into landfill city.

I believe there are several areas in the Odenton area that needs fixing when it comes to traffic. One area is Waugh Chapel Road at the intersection with Piney Orchard Parkway. Drivers always run the red light to make the right hand turn to go on Piney Orchard Parkway. This is just one of many. At this particular intersection they have put a "speed trap" up before the circle that tells drivers to slow down. If you hit any where between 25+ it trips the sensor. Thank God the damage was not too extensive this time. I agree that the driver should have to pay for the repairs as it goes to the saying you break it you buy it. POCA should not take 6+ months to get it fixed especially with the minimal damage that was done. My only question is that was the driver this time drunk? I believe the driver from the first accident was drunk and if this person was drunk then I think AAPD needs to do a checkpoint on PO Pkwy for safety.

The other issues with traffic on PO Parkway is speeding and tailgating. I have passed a car accident and then I had someone speed past me going 50+ MPN. That is insane. I have then been tail gated because I was not going fast enough and then been flipped the bird. Really!?!?! I think people need to go back to traffic school!

Tim, how about doing an investigative piece on how many accidents there have been since they put in the roundabout, verses when they had the traffic lights there?? Might be eye opening !

Why is this news? Is Patch looking at accidents at every intersection in Odenton and Severn? This circle was put in by the developer and County DPW well over a decade ago, not POCA. POCA's safety committee did work with DPW last year to get several lane delineation and approach improvements at this circle which have resulted in zero car collisions between cars in the circle. Can't do much to stop lone cars not staying on the road late at night. If folks recall bad drivers have also hit the brick signs at West Courts and at the intersection of Waugh Chapel and PO Pkwy -- those aren't circles, so what the problem there?

They hit light poles all the time too.

Wait, come to think of it, they are circular too.

Wow...look at all of you adults blaming inanimate objects for human error and crappy driving! I guess I shouldn't be shocked. Traffic circles WORK, if YOU DRIVERS use them correctly. Let's talk about crosswalks...did you know when you approach a crosswalk, if someone is WAITING to enter the crosswalk, you are ALSO supposed to stop for them? Yah...I'm not totally sure it's the law, but it's common courtesy (the main thing we seem to lack around here). I saw an elderly woman patiently waiting in the MIDDLE of a street, within a crosswalk, while car after car just zoomed right past her, nobody stopping to let her cross. I had to ride my bike into the crosswalk and STOP traffic myself, so she could pass, and even then I got evil looks. We're an impatient, inconsiderate set of people, us PO peeps. Not shocked someone was speeding along and hit that big brick structure...and why are y 'all assuming they were drunk, they were probably F'ing with their phone!

@ Megan If you are talking about the circle in front of River Colony you are not supposed to go around the circle when exiting the community. We were told this by the county when it was first installed.

Well said Marc.

Just rode by the circle. If you look at the scene this accident was not the fault of the circle. It looks like the driver was either drunk or did it on purpose.

@Tim and others, this accident was thankfully much different. No damage to the brick structure -- just the curb and the landscaping. And the driver left his front bumper with license plate attached as a calling card so POCA can be reimbursed for the damage he or she caused. Hopefully, we can now get away from stories about people hitting inanimate objects with their cars, and get more analysis of all the various ballot initiatives we will all be asked to decide upon 78 days from now.

The initial report we have from police is that the curb was struck by a 42-year-old woman who claimed she fell asleep at the wheel after a long work shift. Happened at about 1:02 a.m. Saturday. It's unclear whether she was cited...will find out.

I am wholeheartedly opposed to any sort of sobriety checkpoint on the Piney Orchard Parkway. I drive up and down that road drunk very frequently. I generally have no problem navigating the roundabout, save for the occasional wheel on the curb.

@Matt that accident happened on Friday night at another location.

@Jeff Andrade: I understand your point about other intersections having car accidents that are not circles. I really believe that we need an increased number of police officers patrolling PO. I plan on bringing this point up to PO to see what the boards' opinion is on that. Also if you are referring to the national election I would agree that is important but I also think community safety in the area should be equally or more important. I have seen so many people break traffic laws that could lead to numerous injuries.

@Captain Morgan....you are putting so many lives at risk when you do that. Maybe you need to stop drinking before you drive. So is the only reason that you object to a sobriety checkpoint is that you drive drunk alot on PO Parkway.

@Mike please come to the Board meeting tonight. FYI we already pay for more than 1,800 hours of secondary police patrols each year -- more than any other community around here. And those hours are on top of what we regularly get from Western District. In response to several homeowner observations, this year we've dedicated more of those hours to speed enforcement on both Strawberry Lake Way and Piney Orchard Parkway. In this case the accident occurred after 1 am on a Saturday morning and the driver claims she fell asleep, and we don't know if she was speeding or not. The police can't be everywhere 24/7. We still have community property to patrol and protect, need to be looking out for car thieves in parking lots, looking out for vandals and delinquent teenagers hanging out, etc. Residents need to continue to be diligent in not giving thieves opportunities by leaving valuables in cars, reporting all suspicous activity to police immediately when they see it, obeying local speed and parking laws (like not parking in fire lanes at shopping center), and knowing where their kids are and what they are doing. We have one the safest communities in the area but crime prevention is everyone's responsibiity -- not just the police or the Community Association -- if we are going to keep it that way.

The secondary police coverage that we pay the county handily for is pathetic. More often than not, I see the (not so) undercover secondary patrol vehicle sitting idle in various parts of the community (shopping center parking lot, Dunkin Donuts parking lot...imagine that...POES parking lot) rather than on patrol. I've only seen a radar post on piney orchard parkway maybe 3 times in the 12 years that I've lived here. I've only seen cars pulled over on piney orchard parkway maybe 5 times in 12 years. And I would submit that utilizing the services of the secondary officer to provide executive protection to the HOA board members is probably not a good use of our resources. While he's sitting in the community center babysitting board members or escorting them and their families to the grocery store, crimes are occuring.

"O'shea" looks like you just became a member today. I am always suspicious of this since the "trolls" like to set up new aliases to comment on the Patch - which is very childish. FYI the officers log each location they visit and time, log their mileage for the shift, and note any specific issues they have found. The officers are only at POCA Board meetings for part of their shifts because individuals, including Scott DiBiasio and Ronald Grossman have disrupted Board meetings in the past. These disruptions have been documented in the meeting minutes when they have had to be called out of order by the meeting chair.

@Jeff Andrade Unfortunately I am not able to attend the meeting due to previous commitments. I did not mean any disrespect to you or the community by any means. I think I was blowing off a little steam and did not mean to have it come off to anyone in particular. I feel there are several areas that need help. I do understand that they can not be at every spot all the time. I have talked to AAPD (an officer who lives in my community) about some issues. Maybe the safety committee can look at areas of the PO community to identify the areas that need more help. Do you think that the safety committee could possible do this or something similar? I am just curious are the secondary hours provided by AAPD or are they provided by private security?

I totally agree with you on your statement "Residents need to continue to be diligent in not giving thieves opportunities by leaving valuables in cars, reporting all suspicous activity to police immediately when they see it, obeying local speed and parking laws (like not parking in fire lanes at shopping center), and knowing where their kids are and what they are doing."

Like I have stated I am not able to make the meeting tonight due to previous commitments. Is there a time before the September meeting that we could discuss ideas?

Thank you for all the POCA board does for PO.

@Mike Brown...As the newly enlisted Mayor of Piney Orchard, I can assure you that all of your concerns are being addressed. Look for many new and exciting things to come in the near future!!

Gosh, you Piney Orchard folks are a hoot! I thought I'd seen some disfunctional families, but you guys are a whole different story.

@Mike. We agreed to put review of the secondary police patrols on the agenda for September 17. I hope you can make that. Thanks to Safety Committee Chairman Aaron Klebanoff's new web-based data system, we have better analytics on the patrol coverages and results for Board members, and now that we've been reviewing the reports for a few months we thought it would be a good time to go over the current staffing and activities with the police supervisor and Safety Committee members.

Mike, sorry I forgot to give you an answer that the secondary patrols are performed by AACoPD officers but paid by POCA under a contract. They use marked and unmarked police vehicle and are in uniform. If you can't make the Sept meeting, drop me a note and I will raise your questions/issues at the meeting.

I hope they have a camera up so they can catch who the drunk was who plowed into the sign. That persons insurance should pay for the repair.
They should have better street lighting to illuminate the circle. That road is dark. But people drive way to fast going down it. They need those speed bumps all down it for traffic calming. Also if you are to stupid to know how to navigate a traffic circle you should not be behind the wheel of a car.

Arlene, police were on the scene for this one after it happened, and report was filed that include's driver and insurance info. (See newer articles). Driver was not cited by police, and claims to have fallen asleep. The landscaping repairs have already been looked at by the contractor and will be repaired next week. The curb repair is the County's responsibility and that has request has already been submitted. As with previous accident, the driver (or more specifically their insurance carrier) will pay for all of the Association's repair costs, which in this case is limited only to the landscaping damage.