Making Howard County more walkable

   Last Saturday the second public session for the updating of Howard County's Pedestrian Master Plan was held in North Laurel.  The plan called "WalkHoward"  is the County's attempt to design communities with more safe walkways.  While Columbia has an extensive walking path system many other locations in Howard County are not walk friendly.  The need for walking paths is not necessarily a high priority for housing developers, particularly in the western part of Howard County.

   The Plan is to address the pedestrian needs from a few different angles.  The meeting had poster boards that each addressed a different aspect of the need for pedestrian access.  Above is the poster showing how crosswalks can be made safer for pedestrians, especially people with special needs or even parents pushing a stroller.  The past few years has seen a number of these improvements to crossings in Columbia.

    With many people using our buses there is a need to have good pedestrian access to bus stops as shown in the poster above.

    The poster above shows the importance of sideways connecting neighborhoods with shopping and employment centers.  The design of the paths in Columbia do a good job of making these connections with some exceptions like Dobbin Road.

   Participants at Saturday's meeting were able to pinpoint locations on four maps of the County where pedestrian improvements were needed.  These locations will be examined to determine how they might be addressed in the Master Plan.   You can provide this same input online if you have been unable to attend the public meetings.  Go to the County website designed to provide this input.   The Pedestrian Master Plan will be coordinated with the Bike Master Plan since some of the improvements will provide for multipurpose use by walkers and bikers.   Listen to County Exec Kittleman address the purpose of the Master Plan.


P.S.
     Trevor Noah to replace Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.
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