Bridge Waits, Meeting Dates and Credit Card Rebates

Good Friday, Rockville. 

Only a few hours left. At 5 p.m.—in my mind at least—summer is here (albeit unofficially).

While it’s not the Thanksgiving rush so brilliantly captured in one of the all-time great movies (after all, somebody’s got to stay home for ), the bolt to the beach and beyond will bring more than 1.9 million motorists to Maryland Transportation Authority roadways, the state transportation agency reports.

MDTA has a couple of seagulls named Spike and Otis as the beaks—er, faces—of their “Don’t wing It. Plan ahead” campaign. (Because everyone knows that when seagulls aren’t dive-bombing you and your cup of Thrasher’s French fries they give travel tips.)

Spike and Otis recommend that if you’re heading “down the shore,” try to hit the Bay Bridge during the off-peak hours before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m. on Friday, before 7 a.m. and after 5 p.m. on Saturday, before 11 a.m. and after 10 p.m. on Sunday and before 11 a.m. and after 10 p.m. on Memorial Day.

Need more bridge information? Call 1-877-BAYSPAN (229-7726) for 24/7 Bay Bridge traffic conditions or visit www.baybridge.com to view live traffic cameras at the Bay Bridge and to sign up for traffic and email alerts.

And now, the “summertime ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’” edition of ‘The Rundown’:

• Memorial Day is about rest, relaxation and remembrance. But it also can be about revving up power tools. Before you go all “Tool Time” in the backyard, check out this recall notice about Stihl tools that we bring you via a tweet from our friends at the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.
• Looking ahead to next week (those “next weeks” tend to sneak up on us after three-day weekends), the City of Rockville will hold a community forum for residents, business owners and others to share their views on the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance on at 7 p.m. on Thursday at .
• The Rockville Planning Commission has extended its deadline for accepting written until Sept. 30.
  Testimony on the draft plan can be provided in writing to the Planning Commission, c/o Long Range Planning, CPDS, 111 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850 or rockvillepikeplan@rockvillemd.gov. When providing written comments, include name, address and, if applicable, affiliation.
  Click here to view the draft plan.
  The commission will hold work sessions on the transportation aspects of the draft plan on June 8 and 22 and July 13 and 27 at 7 p.m. at .
• In case you missed it, here’s some good stuff from our neighbors to the north: Gaithersburg Patch was at Lakeforest Mall on Tuesday as local hip-hop-artist-made-good and the QO graduate broke a table. (It’s hip-hop, not professional wrestling, folks.)
• From the “membership has its privileges” file (though we think that’s someone else’s motto): Comptroller Peter Franchot announced this week that the state has received a $3.9 million rebate from Bank of America. The state earned its rewards as 77 state agencies spent more than $260 million on small purchases through Maryland's corporate purchasing card program between April 26, 2010 and April 25, 2011. 
  How come our credit card statements never give us rebates? Must have something to do with being the Free State.
• If you just received a $3.9 million rebate, won’t you please become our “friend” at Rockville Patch on Facebook? If you know how we can get in on some of that sweet rebate action, tweet us—and then follow us—on Twitter @RockvillePatch.