February 13a 2012
The Prince
George's Council on January 31st, 2012 was presented with bill CB-2-2012
by Council Members Olson and Franklin.[1]
The proposed county legislation was referred to Committee on Planning, Zoning and
Economic Development (PZED). This legislative proposal will be reviewed on
Wednesday, February 15 at 1:30 PM in the County Administration Building in
Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The PZED committee will discuss the bill and may
suggest any amendments before the bill is officially introduced to the Council.
The way
legislation works in the politics of the few in Prince George's County, the bill needs public
support tomorrow. Opposition will sputter that this is one more unneeded
obstacle to economic development that cars are the future will be the opponents
cry. However, a recent stuffy in Baltimore finds "that pedestrian and
bicycle infrastructure projects create 11-14 jobs per $1 mil-lion of spending
while road infrastructure projects create approximately 7 jobs per $1 million
of expenditures... For bike projects, the second leading industry of job
creation is architecture and engineering. For pedestrian and road projects,
manufacturing industries such as stone, cement, plastic pipes, and wiring
devices all see important job creation effects. In addition to the construction,
engineering, and manufacturing industries, employment is also created in
industries such as wholesale trade, truck transportation, food services,
accounting, and legal services."[2]
Under
provisions of this bill, the county
would determine if the walking and bicycling infrastructure in the proposed subdivision
and surrounding area were adequate. The county might require the developer to
put in place walkways or bike links within
a designated walking or biking distances from a subdivision. Only
subdivisions that are located in the County’s “centers & corridors,” that
is, those subdivisions which are designated planning areas around Metro
stations, major town centers and corridors would be subject to the requirements
of this legislation.
Adequate
pedestrian and bikeway facilities may include:[3]
·
Installing or improving sidewalks
·
Increasing safe pedestrian crossing
opportunities at all intersections
·
Streetlights, trees, street furniture, and other
streetscape features
·
Multi-use trails, bike paths, and/or pedestrian
pathways and crossings
·
Street furniture (benches, trash cans, bike
racks, bus shelters, etc)
·
Street trees
·
Public art
Today's
question is: Can Prince George's County boldly build bikeways or will it
continue its drive into the 20thcentury?
[1] AN
ACT concerning Adequate Public Pedestrian and Bikeway Facilities in Centers and
Corridors For the purpose of requiring the Planning Board to make a finding of
adequacy of public Pedestrian and Bikeway Facilities for development proposals
within County Centers and Corridors, to include standards for ensuring the adequacy
of non-motorized multimodal transportation facilities including sidewalks,
bikeways, and pathways, clarifying requirements for adequate access roads
available to serve traffic that would be generated by development projects
within proposed subdivisions, and implementing “complete streets” principles
and policies in the 2009 Approved Countywide Master Plan of Transportation.
Statement
of Legislative Intent. This Section
establishes general criteria by which to ensure the adequacy of public
pedestrian and bikeway facilities in County Centers and Corridors as designated
by the General Plan (or as designated, defined, or amended by a subsequent
master plan or sector plan). It also
sets forth the requirements for those who establish subdivisions within Centers
and Corridors to construct on-site and off-site pedestrian and bikeway
facilities and other public streetscape improvements as part of any development
project. The Approved 2002 General Plan states that the County should provide
for a multimodal pedestrian-friendly transportation system at Centers and
Corridors that is integrated with the desired development pattern.
Accomplishing this requires the incorporation, to the maximum extent possible,
of appropriate pedestrian, bicycle and transit-oriented design (TOD) and
transit-supporting design (TSD) features in all new development within Centers
and Corridors. Such features include integrated sidewalk, trail, and bikeway
networks to divert as many trips as possible from automobile travel and
increase the multimodal accessibility and attractiveness of trips to transit
stops, schools, parks, libraries, stores, services and other destinations for
all users. Pedestrian and bikeway facilities should be designed to increase
safety, reduce travel time and offer the most direct routes to destinations for
persons of all abilities. These concepts are further articulated in the
“complete streets” principles and policies set forth in the 2009 Approved
Countywide Master Plan of Transportation.
[2] Heidi
Garrett-Peltier. Estimating The
Employment Impacts Of Pedestrian, Bicycle, And Road Infrastructure CASE STUDY: BALTIMORE.
Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts,
Amherst December 2010. [accessed February 14, 2012] http://www.bikeleague.org/resources/reports/pdfs/baltimore_Dec20.pdf
[3]
Fact Sheet: Walk/Bike connections bill. Cheryl Cort, Coalition for Smarter
Growth. T 202-244-4408 x 112 cheryl@smartergrowth.net www.smartergrowth.net,
Twitter: BetterDCregion {accessed February 13 2012] http://www.smartergrowth.net/anx/ass/library/11/pg-cb-2-factsheet.pdf
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