Columbia Awarded State Grants for Bikeway Improvements
The grants will be used throughout the city to improve bike pathways.
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Columbia was awarded three grants worth about $155,000 for planned bikeway improvements in and around the city, according to an announcement from Gov. Martin O’Malley on Tuesday.
The improvements include:
- Crosswalks, curb cuts and signage for several locations identified by the Columbia Association ($50,000)
- Signed route and striping for a bikeway from Columbia to Fort Meade ($25,000)
- A 4-foot paved shoulder through the S-Curve on Guilford Road in Clarksville ($80,000)
The Maryland Bikeways Program designated all three improvements as “minor retrofits.” The grants will help the Columbia Association implement its Active Transportation Action Agenda, according to its Facebook Page. That plan is focused on making a more comprehensive bicycling and walking circulation system in Columbia.
In December, the Columbia Association created an interactive Google Map to help identify where pathways need to be improved. Multiple residents have participated by posting comments at markers to indicate dangerous intersections, steep hills and other hazards.
The CA has not decided yet where the additional crosswalks, curb cuts and signage will be placed, but CA spokesperson Kelly Cooper said officials have some ideas. She said the Action Agenda would guide where the grant money would be most useful in making Columbia more bikeable.
H.R. Pufnstuf
4:56 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
LOL. The state government is moving teacher pension costs to the counties but has plenty of money for bike paths in one of the richest counties in the nation. Please keep voting for these morons.
Michaelwritescode
6:05 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
@Ohai
Not to get off topic but the cost of teacher's pensions is nearly $1 billion a year to the state. Although I certainly would agree that the benefits of the MD Bikeways project seem a bit a bit nebulous surely one cannot compare a 150k single payment to this hefty yearly cost.
H.R. Pufnstuf
7:20 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
But this highlights the wasteful spending of state government. If Howard County taxpayers are not willing to pay for this out of our own pockets, should state taxpayers on the Eastern shore have to subsidize us? And I'm sure there are hundreds of smaller wasteful spending programs like this that could be cut and make a dent in the pensions. We need to stop letting government imbeciles play Santa Claus with our money.
Ann Delacy
7:34 pm on Friday, March 9, 2012
As a retired teacher, I feel compelled to inform everyone that the Teacher Retirement includes community college personnel, those who work in the public library system as well as those in the administration, such as Mrs. Mamie Perkins, whose salaries are one the very edge of $200,000.00.
Bob B.
9:45 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
It seems the State politicians will never see a nice idea they won't throw money at. To send $155K to rich Columbia, in rich Howard County, while raising taxes on almost everything is the height of stupidity.
JJ
8:07 am on Friday, March 9, 2012
You get what you vote for. O'Malley is destroying Maryland at the state level first, then county by county. And I thought Kathleen Townsend was bad!
Andrew Metcalf
9:25 am on Friday, March 9, 2012
Just to put the $155,000 in perspective, Prince George's County received the largest grant—$1 million to create a 0.4 mile connection between the Anacostia Tributary Trail to the Washington D.C. Riverwalk Trail. You can see the full list of the grants here - http://www.mdot.maryland.gov/Office%20of%20Planning%20and%20Capital%20Programming/Bike/Images/Update_March_2012/First%20Bikeways%20Projects%20for%20web.pdfhttp://www.mdot.maryland.gov/Office%20of%20Planning%20and%20Capital%20Programming/Bike/Images/Update_March_2012/First%20Bikeways%20Projects%20for%20web.pdf
Ann Delacy
7:30 pm on Friday, March 9, 2012
Only $155,000.00?! What can you do with that? Our bike routes are terrible and cannot compare to those in Montgomery County. When I moved from Montgomery to Howard I missed three things: Bike paths, Whole Foods, and businesses that recycled 50% of their waste.