The Anne Arundel County Office of Planning and Zonings Transportation Division will hold a final public meeting to discuss updates to the Countys Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Broadneck Senior High School, 1265 Green Holly Drive, Annapolis.

This plan focuses primarily pedestrian and bicycle utilitarian trips, such as to work, school or shopping (i.e. every day transportation) that can take the place of car trips either by choice or by necessity, as opposed to purely recreational trips that are 100% discretionary. In addition, it only covers higher density areas of the county where these kinds of trips are likely to be taken by the average person. This is defined as the parts of the county covered by water and sewer service.

The major objectives of the plan are to:

1. Survey and identify the locations of deficiencies and continuity gaps within the County’s network of pedestrian and bicycle facilities and,
2. Develop a scheme for prioritizing the areas identified above.

As county citizens interested in better cycling in the County urban areas, we hope you will be able to attend the public feedback meeting and provide the County Planning Team with feedback on the plan. As you review the plan, please focus on whether you feel the process for prioritizing the projects, not just the projects themselves, accurately reflects what you think is needed to achieve the goal of getting more “regular” people to use bikes as every day transportation.

Link to download the plan: http://www.aacounty.org/PlanZone/Resources/DRAFT_2013PedBic_MasterPlan.pdf
Link to download the appendix: http://www.aacounty.org/PlanZone/Resources/DRAFT_2013PedBi_Appendix.pdf

We hope to see you there!

Planning and Zoning Press Release:

Annapolis, Maryland (May 31, 2013) The Anne Arundel County Office of Planning and Zonings Transportation Division will hold a final public meeting to discuss updates to the Countys Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Broadneck Senior High School, 1265 Green Holly Drive, Annapolis.

Over the past several months consultants have been working to identify ways to facilitate and foster pedestrian and bicycle utilitarian trips, such as to work, school or shopping. One major objective of the study is to identify and assess deficiencies and continuity gaps that exist in the network of pedestrian and bicycle facilities within the Countys urbanized area. The urbanized area is defined by the area located within the boundaries of planned utility service (water and sewer district).

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan is a component of a larger ongoing project to prepare the Countys Transportation Functional Master Plan as recommended in the adopted General Development Plan. In addition to enhanced pedestrian and bicycle travel, the broader planning initiative will incorporate analysis of opportunities to improve travel in the Countys major highway corridors (e.g. through transit, managed lanes, etc.); identify potential regulatory changes that may facilitate efficient use of rights of way for all travel modes; and evaluate strategies to relieve congestion at existing traffic bottlenecks.

The study is anticipated to be completed within the next 18 months. There will be several more opportunities to receive public comments on the components of the plan, well as the overall plan during the next 18 month period.

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Tracie Reynolds
Office of Public Information
410-222-1288
443-336-8044 Cell