Where the 'Rustic' Clogs the Road

The farmers say they want the county to spend more to fix and maintain the roads, including trimming the tree canopies, and to build shoulders in certain places.

Preservationists counter that the goal of the county's nationally renowned agricultural reserve, where only one home can be built per 25 acres, is not just to protect those who own and manage the 577 farms but to maintain open space as development swallows up land.

"The entire county are stakeholders when it comes to the agricultural reserve," said Dolores G. Milmoe, an official with the Audubon Naturalist Society, which opposes suburban sprawl in the reserve. "It's not just the landowners up there, but people all over the county recognize it's wonderful to know we have these rural lands so close to a metropolitan area."

They are people such as Ben Holmes, who lives near the reserve in Laytonsville. The conditions, he said, weren't a problem before and shouldn't be a problem now. "Farmers have been driving up and down those roads for years," he said.

Preservationists and county officials dispute suggestions that the program makes it difficult for farmers to earn a living. "It's not the intent of the program to impede their activity on the roads at all," said Laura Van Etten, who chairs the rustic roads advisory committee.

At a time when it's increasingly difficult for those working small farms to earn a profit, farmers say they are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on larger, more efficient machines. Busted mirrors and windshields are common because of the tree canopies, they say.

Keith Patton Sr., co-owner of JT Patton and Sons Turf Farms in Dickerson, stores an unused 1948 tractor that is about six feet wide and has 20 horsepower to pull an eight-foot drill. On his field, he's got tractors as wide as 13 feet that have 200 horsepower and pull 30-foot drills.

"The face of farming has changed," he said. "You can't farm with a horse and buggy like you did when the roads were built."

Although the county does not keep traffic volume data specifically for rustic roads, several farmers said they have seen traffic increase. They avoid driving their vehicles during rush hour and work more on weekends for fear of collisions or road rage.

County spokeswoman Esther Bowring could not provide an overall picture of the safety record of rustic roads because, she said, the police department does not categorize accident data that way.

But police were able to tally the number of collisions reported last year for four roads -- Montevideo Road; River Road between Edwards Ferry Road and Whites Ferry Road; West Willard Road; and Whites Ferry Road between Wasche Road and River Road. The total, 20, was not much different than in years past.

"We have always sought to strike an appropriate balance between the rural and urban areas of our community, preserving our past while keeping our economy strong," Bowring said.