Howard County's Department of Public Works wants to add 18 new school zones across the county, a move that would let police deploy speed cameras and double-fine citations on stretches of road near schools from Elkridge to Columbia. The proposal touches roads near Howard High School, Centennial High School, Forest Ridge Elementary and more than a dozen other campuses, and it marks the county's first major re-evaluation of school traffic boundaries in 15 years.
The plan, first reported by CBS News Baltimore, represents the jurisdiction's first widespread overhaul of school safety zone designations since 2011, according to traffic engineering leadership cited by The Baltimore Banner. Before this expansion, the county maintained 41 elementary school zones, 19 middle school zones, 12 high school zones, and 18 private school zones, per Patch. Adding 18 more zones would be a significant jump against that existing inventory.
Erjon Rembeci, who works for the DPW's Bureau of Highway Traffic Engineering Division, said school zone decisions consider Maryland State Highway Administration guidelines, according to CBS News Baltimore. Those decisions also weigh whether students walk or bicycle to and from school and where marked crosswalks are located, per the same report. The proposed zones were determined in coordination with Howard County Police and the HCPSS Office of Student Transportation.
Which Roads Are on the List
The proposed segments span the county. Stephens Road, from S. Eternal Rings Drive to Gorman Road, would affect Forest Ridge Elementary School. Chatham Road, from Pebble Branch Road to near 3913 Chatham Road, would impact Northfield Elementary School and Dunloggin Middle School. Kingsbridge Road, from Breconshire Road to near 10413 Kingsbridge Road, and nearby Breconshire Road, from Centennial Lane to Glastonbury Road, would both affect Centennial High School and Burleigh Manor Middle School.
Centre Park Drive, running from Old Annapolis Road to Columbia 100 Parkway, would impact Howard High School. Twin Rivers Road, from Governor Warfield Parkway to near Green Mountain Circle, would affect Wilde Lake Middle School and Wilde Lake High School. Little Patuxent Parkway, from Crystal Run to Cedar Lane, would impact Swansfield Elementary, while Rock Coast Road, from Swansfield Road to Cedar Lane, would also touch that same school.
Several corridors serve Elkridge-area schools: Summer Home Terrace, from near Judge Dobbin Court to near 6209 Summer Home Terrace, and Rowanberry Drive, from near Greenfield Road to Montgomery Road, would both affect Elkridge Elementary School and Elkridge Landing Middle School. Leishear Road, from Mary Lee Lane to 8082 Leishear Road, would impact Hammond Elementary School and Hammond Middle School. Macalpine Road, from Pebble Branch Road to Crescent Road, would affect Northfield Elementary School and Dunloggin Middle School as well.
Fulton Corridor and Harper's Choice Roads
Three roads near Fulton would fall under the new designations: Iager Boulevard, from Daily Street to Early Morning Street; Maple Lawn Boulevard, from Terrace Lane to near West Market Place; and Westside Boulevard, from near Tuckahoe Court to near Market Street. All three would impact Fulton Elementary School, Lime Kiln Middle School, and Reservoir High School.
Cedar Lane, from Rivendell Lane to near the Cedar Lane Park entrance, and Eliots Oak Road, from Harpers Farm Road to 5230 Eliots Oak Road, would both affect Harper's Choice Middle School. Harpers Farm Road, from Willow Bottom Drive to Little Patuxent Parkway, would also impact that same middle school. Jack Ridgeway, who lives near Harper's Choice Middle School, told CBS News Baltimore that many students come to the area after school and said the proposed zones are a good idea.
What a School Zone Designation Actually Changes
Establishing a new school zone does not automatically lower posted speed limits, but it does give the Howard County Police Department legal authority to deploy automated speed enforcement cameras and issue double-fine citations on those stretches, per statements reported by The Banner. The proposed changes include additional signage alerting drivers that they are entering a school zone. Under Maryland law, a school zone is defined as a designated roadway segment within a half-mile radius of a school where authorities may set speed controls and post warning signage, according to the same Patch report.
Fines for school zone speeding violations range from $40 to $425, according to CBS News Baltimore. Any automated camera enforcement remains bound by Maryland Transportation Code § 21-809, which restricts operation to weekdays between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. and only issues citations to drivers traveling at least 12 miles per hour over the posted limit, according to the Maryland General Assembly. Howard County currently places speed cameras only within school zones, and the county's speed camera count grew by two over the past year, bringing police to a current pool of 10 cameras, according to CBS News Baltimore. A county speed-camera cap was previously removed from Howard County code, per the outlet's reporting.
The push for more enforcement corridors comes against a backdrop of documented speeding near schools. A 2022 Howard County Council report on school zone speed monitoring found heavy speeding in active zones, including one enforcement site on southbound Centennial Lane that recorded more than 11 citation-level speeding violations per hour, according to Maryland Safe Routes to School. The expansion effort also aligns with the county's 2019 Complete Streets Policy, adopted unanimously by the Howard County Council under Resolution CR 120-2019, which requires infrastructure planning to prioritize safe access for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users near schools.
How to Weigh In
The initiative is formally designated Howard County Capital Project T-7088 and included a public outreach Webex meeting Wednesday, ahead of an August 24 public comment deadline, according to a Howard County press release. Residents can email public comments to Erjon Rembeci at [email protected]. The county's move mirrors a broader regional trend: neighboring Anne Arundel County began deploying mobile automated speed camera units to combat residential and school zone speeding, as Hoodline previously reported.
Alongside the speed camera program, Howard County Police also manage an automated external school bus camera system launched in 2021 that issues $250 state fines to drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses with flashing red lights, according to county records. Whether DPW's proposed signage additions will be followed by new physical camera installations, or draw from the department's existing pool of cameras, remains an open question as the public comment period continues.
