baltimorespokes

https://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/2011/11/taxes_dominates_discussion_amo.html
Excerpt: "Del. Anthony O’Donnell, the House Republican leader, made clear that his caucus would not support a gas tax increase. “When people are banging on the door for a tax increase, think about the little guy,” he said, telling business leaders that consumers already are strapped and can ill afford more taxes and fees."
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B’ Spokes: The way I see it, is the state is trying to penny pinch road projects by excluding bicycle and pedestrian safety issues because the "need" for more road projects is so great. But the fact the road revenue is not keeping up with road "need" in and of itself says volumes.
Do road projects have the right to turn public space into killing zones? Maryland has the 4th highest pedestrian fatality rate https://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/States/StatesPedestrians.aspx
Clearly Maryland is not doing something right.
Of course the big unspoken issue is in Maryland there is very little choice for too many including the "little guy", they "need" to drive. And that’s the real big issue, we are just digging ourselves into one big unsustainable pit with more and more road projects and no other options. Maryland is not saying lets do this road project well and for all users within what we can afford. Instead Maryland looks at cutting cost so we can do even more road projects, like my Mom says "If you squeeze every last bit from that tube of tooth paste you can then afford something nice." – While there is a point here about not being wasteful but in reality no mater how much you squeeze out it will never get you anything close in value to that tube of tooth paste. We need Maryland to rethink what is needed. And keep the goal as "mobility for all" instead of just for cars.

[B’ Spokes: Attn AA County, trails are ONLY for recreation and NOT for transportation! So transportational use by cyclists must be discouraged. 🙁 Additionally it seems that once again only the locals have a say and not the people who may actually use the bicycling facility. Reading the comments on the linked article is also recommended.

Addendum: I’ll note that Transportation Enchantment funds (typically used to fund Maryland’s trails) can only be spent on transportation and not recreational trails. Hmmmm…
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From Greater Greater Washington by Jim Titus

Anne Arundel County wants to fill a gap in the Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis Trail with a circuitous $6 million path, instead of the better and cheaper direct option.

Photo by Richard Drdul on Flickr.

This week, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley will announce a new state program to help local governments fund trail construction. The first project on tap is path and bridge over the Patuxent River to connect the WB&A segments in Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties.

The two counties are a mile apart on where that bridge should be. Prince George prefers a $3 million bridge with a straight trail along an old railbed. But Anne Arundel prefers a $6 million bridge with a detour that goes up and down a hill, runs through a wetland flood plain, and adds a mile to the length of any trip. Recently, state officials have been moving forward with the more costly alignment.

The state would be picking up a large portion of the inflated tab. Will the Governor merely provide funds to enable local decision-making at its worst, or will he lead these counties to build the better, lower-cost trail that, for a variety of institutional reasons, they are unable to pursue on their own?

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Continue reading “What’s better: A $3 million direct trail or a $6 million detour?”