On February 21, the Howard County Office of Transportation held their annual open house to provide updates on upcoming pedestrian, bike, complete streets and shared micro-mobility (e.g. electric scooters) projects that are planned to make it easier to get around Howard County.
The materials from the open house included a map and reference table showing over 50 upcoming bike and pedestrian projects that are starting in Howard County in the coming years.
These materials were recently uploaded onto the Office of Transportation Open House website and are shown below. Each project on the map is numbered with a number that can be found the reference table to learn more details about each of the upcoming projects.
Full resolution versions of this maps are linked to the images above so click on them to be directed to full PDFs of these image on the Howard County's website.
The Office of Transportation is collecting feedback from residents on these project via a survey. It is exciting to see all these plans for new bike and pedestrian projects, but in order for them to be designed and constructed, the County will need to provide adequate funding for bike and pedestrian projects in the Capital Budget. The County is in process of soliciting public feedback on its FY24 capital budget. A budget hearing on March 13 will provide an opportunity for residents to provide input into the FY24 budget. Written online testimony is also being accepted.
In addition to these new bike and pedestrian projects, the open house also shared data from the recently completed scooter pilot program that concluded in Fall 2022 in Downtown Columbia. Below is the slide that shows that information and scooter usage data. The County noted that scooter parking was one of the major challenges of the shared scooter program and a decision on whether the scooter program will continue is expected this Spring.
