This multi-million-dollar project will reshape Ellicott City's Main Street

BALTIMORE – A multi-million-dollar and month-long project to reshape Ellicott City's Main Street is underway. It is part of the county's Ellicott City Safe and Sound Plan to combat flooding. 

It's a mitigation project developed following the floods of 2011, 2016 and 2018 that killed three people and left behind massive destruction.

Chuck Collins has seen that there are fewer historical buildings along Main Street in Ellicott City.

"With them losing just that little wall section there, Tiber Alley, and south there up," said Chuck Collins, an Ellicott City resident. 

Each holds so much history but will soon have a new meaning once the demolition is complete.  

"I think it's going to be a good move," said Collins. 

"After the recent devastating floods of 2011, 2016, 2018, we knew we had to do something," said Calvin Ball, Howard County Executive. 

In December 2018, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball first announced the Ellicott City Safe and Sound Plan, a comprehensive plan to mitigate the effects of flash flooding in Historic Ellicott City, Maryland. The four focus areas of the plan include ensuring public safety, supporting businesses and property owners, maintaining Ellicott City's historic charm, and developing a more inclusive, community-driven process.

"Even though the previous plan was going to actually just demolish 10 buildings reevaluated, how can we find ways to safely and protect the historic culture. So we have deconstructed four and we're preserving six buildings," said Ball. 

It's all part of a multi-step effort in the North Tunnel project. It's part of the county's larger Safe and Sound Plan, which calls for five retention ponds and two water conveyance systems to help divert water away from Main Street.

"Where we are right now is actually where the extended north tunnel will go. What we've seen in these recent floods is that as the water starts at the top of Main Street, they gain speed and volume and then really impact the bottom of Main Street," Ball explained. 

The North Tunnel will be about 5,500-foot-long and 18-feet in diameter, with its upstream end located on the north side of Frederick Road, and its downstream end at the Patapsco River shoreline. 

"This tunnel will convey the water much more efficiently. And then we'll be able to open up where we see these buildings deconstructed at Tiber Park, which will actually bring more people to the lower main street," said Ball. 

Ball announced the Ellicott City Safe and Sound Plan back in 2018 and says it is to help mitigate the effects of flooding.

"The tunnel actually more safely and efficiently brings water into the Patapsco," said Ball. 

The executive said this is one step in the largest public works project in Howard County.

"And, so carefully deconstructing and preserving history is not only how we balance safety, but also history," said Ball. 

Construction is expected to begin in summer 2024, weather permitting, and is anticipated to be completed in late 2027.