Traffic

Charrette participants were emphatic that traffic in Downtown should be kept at a manageable level through the use of well-designed roads and parking facilities, as well as by encouraging alternatives to private auto use, especially mass transit. We propose a mix of transportation improvements, combined with moderate levels of development, in order to promote a high quality of life in Columbia’s Downtown.

Downtown’s pedestrian and bike friendliness is severely impaired by the speed of traffic on Little Patuxent Parkway, Governor Warfield Parkway, and the Mall’s ring road. We support the implementation of strong and continuous speed limit enforcement to slow traffic on these roads, along with the construction of safe pedestrian crossings. To paraphrase Jim Rouse: It can be done if we have the will to do it.

The high-density development recommended by the County would result in a level of congestion in significant violation of current County highway standards. The County advocates dealing with this congestion simply by changing the highway standards, reasoning that uncomfortable levels of traffic congestion will force people out of their cars. We find this to be an ineffective and, in fact, negligent answer to the problem of auto dependence. We believe that the community does not support a major increase in Downtown traffic levels.

Public transportation for Downtown was one of the highest priorities expressed by Charrette participants. There is already ample justification for improving mass transit in Columbia, given the size of our community of nearly 100,000 residents and the certainty of additional development. We support a truly viable public transportation system consisting of:

· Free shuttle buses running every 10-15 minutes throughout Downtown

· Frequent and low-cost local bus routes connecting Downtown with the rest of Columbia and Howard County

· A frequent and low-cost commuter bus or rail system linking Columbia to the Baltimore and Washington areas

· Reserving land for eventual development of a public transportation hub

· Examining the option of extending the DC Metro system and Baltimore light rail system into Columbia environs

We propose constructing some, but not all, of the County’s proposed “Future Street System”.

We strongly object to the County plan to narrow Little Patuxent Parkway to two lanes each way, while adding parallel parking on the street. The County has released a traffic study showing that this will lead to a very high level of traffic congestion, which is clearly unacceptable to the community.

We strongly oppose the County’s plan to designate Governor Warfield Parkway as the major through-road for the Downtown area. This would soon result in pressure to widen the Parkway as a stopgap measure to make room for increased traffic, leading to the destruction of the extraordinarily valuable and beloved stand of mature trees on the Parkway’s median.

We tentatively support widening the Route 175 bridge over US 29 – if physical, environmental, and financial constraints permit.

We support studying the possibility of improving the South Entrance connection with southbound US 29. As part of this study, we suggest looking at transforming the intersection of Little Patuxent Parkway and South Entrance Road into a very large circle with cultural facilities on the perimeter, incorporating the existing Toby’s Dinner Theatre and the main Howard County Library. The center of the circle might include underground parking, topped by generous amounts of green space.