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I had to read the "New highway ramp to I-370 to open this month," [Nov. 3] several times to be sure I was reading it correctly. I take Shady Grove Road to I-370 to I-270 every day for work. The manner in which the on/off ramps are being reconfigured is not only ill-conceived, but dangerous. Shady Grove Road already backs up with no traffic signal controlling I-370 access. And now, you're going to make us wait at a signal, on a ramp (can't wait until the first real snow and freeze) to make a left turn down a ramp with a full 180-degree turn to get onto I-370. All you had to do was widen the existing ramp to accommodate a new lane for the ICC.

Many words come to mind regarding the competence of the engineers that came up with this plan. The comments from [Keith Riniker, a traffic designer for Intercounty Constructors, the contractor for the project] that "accessing the roadway will be a little messy the first few days after the shift occurs, but that traffic projections for the next 10 years show that left-turn traffic will decrease with the addition of the ICC" are insulting at best. Does Mr. Riniker believe that those of us that work in points south of I-270 are all going to change jobs to Baltimore? In typical fashion, MDOT has taken what should have been a straightforward expansion and over-engineered it, creating what will surely result in creating more traffic problems and accidents.

Rick Moses, Derwood