Harford County officials are asking developers of a new Costco store in Bel Air to update the plans to mitigate lingering traffic concerns.

The county’s Department of Planning and Zoning staff issued comments Feb. 18 on a traffic study for the shopping center, expressing concerns with congestion specifically at the intersection of Route 924 and Plumtree Road.

The main concern from county staff centered on left-turning traffic from Plumtree Road that the county said would more than double once the Costco store and other nearby development are complete. County officials said traffic would block vehicles coming from the opposite direction and “create delays for eastbound traffic” on Plumtree Road.

The proposed Costco is surrounded by numerous commercial lots — the Traffic Impact Study shows two fast-food restaurants ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 square feet, two 14,500 square-foot high-turnover sit-down restaurants and a 5,106-square foot car wash occupying the lots.

Specific company names for the restaurants and car wash were not provided.

The additional businesses are planned for lots adjacent to the proposed 162,000 square-foot Costco, a members-only warehouse store located off Emmorton and Plum Tree roads in Bel Air. Project plans show the 22.5-acre development would include the 162,000 square foot warehouse store, 821 parking spaces and a 24-pump gas station.

The project went before the county’s Development Advisory Committee in September when representatives presented a Traffic Impact Study that outlines a list of recommended upgrades based on the projected impact of the development on the surrounding roads.

The Maryland State Highway Administration recommended that in order for the surrounding area to adequately accommodate the Costco and its projected 5,500 daily visitors, the following enhancements to be made neighboring roadways:

  • Expand Plumtree Road from two lanes to five to allow two lanes in each direction along with a center turn lane;
  • A traffic signal at the Route 924/Emmorton Road intersection at Bright Oak Drive;
  • The widening of Route 924/Emmorton Road to accommodate acceleration and deceleration lanes;
  • Increasing the speed limit on Plumtree Road from 30 to 40 miles per hour.

A revised traffic study was submitted upon request of the committee in November.

Among other minor things, the county requested the Traffic Impact Study identify several important intersection queues surrounding the site and analyze access to the Costco from Plumtree Road with deceleration lanes.

So far, the project has received approval on a Forest Conservation plan for the Costco lot that requires developers to reforest 15.8 acres of the 28.720 acres of forest formerly on the 33.75 acre site.

According to the Forest Conservation plan approved Jan. 15, 12.99 acres of the reforestation for the Costco site will involve 4.33 acres of “traditional on-site reforestation,” 58 individual trees, along with eight acres of off-site reforestation at a property on Grafton Shop Road in Bel Air, and the Todd Lakes neighborhood in southern Bel Air.

The remaining 2.89 acres of reforestation for the other lots will be submitted with future Forest Conservation plans by the developer.

More than 3,000 saplings including trees, shrubs and evergreens will be planted in three different locations on the Costco site, according to the Forest Conservation plans.

Once an adequate Traffic Impact Study is submitted and approved by the county’s Department of Planning and Zoning, developers can continue the development process to eventually receive site-plan approval and building permits.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.