Bridge Study Delay Frustrates Columbia Group

About a year has passed since Howard County announced it would find a firm to study the economic impacts of building a new or renovating the current pedestrian bridge over Route 29 and that has advocates of a new bridge frustrated.

"For some reason, they've been dragging their feet on it—the county," said John Slater, a member of the group Bridge Columbia, which supports a new pedestrian and public transit bridge connecting Oakland Mills and Downtown Columbia. "It's very frustrating."

If built, the bridge would replace the current 29-year-old enclosed pedestrian bridge over Route 29 near Lake Kittamaqundi. Bridge Columbia estimates a new bridge with pedestrian walkways and a roadway for buses would cost between $10 and $15 million.

At the meeting on Tuesday, County Council members asked John Powell, the head of the county's Office of Transportation, what caused the delay in conducting a study, which was funded with $100,000 in county funds in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget.

Powell said that discussions with different groups and people about what the study should examine have delayed its start. Powell said he plans to meet next week with community members to discuss what types of things should be examined in the study.

County Council chair Jen Terrasa suggested the study include economic and transportation benefits, as well as how widening of U.S. 29 in that area will affect building a new bridge.

The State Highway Administration moved forward this year with plans and $48 million in funds to add a lane to northbound U.S. 29 from Seneca Drive to Broken Land Parkway.

Bridge Columbia supporters questioned Powell on whether the county could receive state funds for a new bridge as part of the U.S. 29 widening project. 

"Answer is likely no," said Powell. "It's not going to move that fast."

Powell said Tuesday it will take about 90 days to find a firm to conduct the study and then another 90 to 120 days to receive results.

"Right now, the first step is what we're going to do with the existing bridge," said Powell.

The study will examine renovating the current bridge, building a new pedestrian-only bridge, and building a new transit and pedestrian bridge, among other things, said Powell.

Bridge Columbia members say building a new bridge gives the county an opportunity to have a visually striking landmark over U.S. 29 that is safer and more accessible than the current one. They believe up to 80 percent of the funding for the bridge could be provided through federal and state grants.

However, when County Executive Ken Ulman was mulling whether to fund a feasibility study for a new bridge in March of 2012, he said during a budget hearing, "I would do cartwheels in every part of this room if we acquired funds to pay the balance," according to a Howard County Times report.

A previous feasibility study conducted by the Howard Research and Development Corporation in 2010 found that "the transportation benefit of a new transit bridge was not significant" and did not recommend building a new connection over Route 29. That study did not analyze potential economic benefits of a new bridge, however, according to the county.