10th Annual Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Symposium summary
John D. Porcari, who has been nominated to be Secretary of Transposition, spoke at the symposium. He was previously the Secretary of Transportation under Governor Glendening.
Secretary Pocari stressed that there are two vital elements to change anything in the state government: (1) A strong grass roots movement and (2) Someone in government who can change policy. Those elements were present when the "Bicycle and Pedestrian Access Act of 2001" was passed.
At one time, all state bicycle improvements were funded from the recreation budget. That was changed so that funding now comes from the transportation budget.
Secretary Pocari also stated that there most likely will have to be a state gas tax increase next year. Bicyclists should assure that their state representatives in Annapolis demand that part of the increase funding be dedicated to improving bicycle conditions in Maryland in exchange for their favorable vote on the gas tax increase.
Doug Simmons, Deputy Administrator/Chief Engineer for Planning and Engineering, represented Neil Pedersen who could not attend. He stated that under the Community Safety and Enhancement Program would be renamed "Mainstreet." That program specifies a minimum of 4-foot wide shoulders in rural areas and a minimum of 5-foot wide bike lanes in urban areas. I do not know if the "Mainstreet" program applies only to new construction. If the program applies to major re-construction of an existing road, I do not know what constitutes "major re-construction."
Doug Simmons further explained that in the past the SHA could not build sidewalks along state highways. Now the SHA may build sidewalks. Unfortunately, by law, the SHA cannot build bike trails with highway funding unless the trail is along a state highway.
In constructing and maintaining highways, the SHA has three main concerns: (1) Structure; (2) Drainage; and (3) Safety. Recently, however, the SHA recognizes that when constructing or re-constructing highways within urban areas, it should take into account community social and cultural needs. Many state highways within urban areas should be should be designed as an urban "mainstreet."
The SHA has made progress in striping bike lanes. In 2002, there were only 8 miles of bike lanes were striped. Now there are 680 miles of striped bike lanes in Maryland.
The SHA administers a federally-funded transportation enhancement program which currently has an $8 million annual budget. Under this program, these funds may not be used for highways and 50% of the funding is used for bicycle facility enhancements. In the past, much of these funds have been used for the Allegheny Trail; the Western Maryland Trail, the Capital Crescent Trail, the Rockville Millineum Trail and now the Mathew-Henson Trail. In order to extend the program to have its maximum impact, the SHA requires that local jurisdictions provide 50 percent of the funds for all covered projects. It was not clear how this program relates to the "Mainstreet" program mentioned above. Also, the program was described as a "reimbursable" program but I was not clear about which projects were "reimbursable" and to what extent local jurisdictions had to pay back monies. Applications for participation in this program are due my March 1, 2007. More information about the program can be found at:
<a href="http://www.sha.state.md.us/ImprovingOurCommunity/OPPE/tep.asp">http://www.sha.state.md.us/ImprovingOurCommunity/OPPE/tep.asp</a>;
There is a ADA Retrofit Program that is currently funded at $3 million/year. The SHA recently inventoried state highway intersections and sidewalks along state highways. The inventory showed that 99 percent of those facilities did not comply with the recently upgraded ADA requirements. The SHA choose to grade itself against the newer er requirements rather than the requirements when the facilities were built. The SHA wants to know what needs to be done to bring all of its facilities up to the newer ADA requirements. In determining compliance with ADA requirements, the SHA considers such things as grade, missing sections of sidewalks, obstructions in sidewalks (utility poles, etc.), crosswalks in intersections, and whether or not the pedestrian signal lights are audible.
The SHA has a new pedestrian/bicycle coordinator for district 3 which includes Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties. Her name is Felecia Baker, e-mail: fbaker@sha.state.md.us; phone: (301) 513-7424. She is located in the Greenbelt office (9300 Kenilworth Avenue)
Andy Clarke from the League of American Bicyclists spoke about the "Bicycle Friendly Community" awards program that LAB administers. He said that LAB is learning by experience how to administer the program and how it can be of help to bicyclists. The program seeks to provide benchmarks, guidance and incentives. Using benchmarks, communities can determine how well they compare with other bicycle-friendly communities. Some cities, such as Chicago have sought guidance to reach the next higher level of recognition. Chicago actually installed 10,000 bicycle racks and improve its trail system to become more bicycle friendly. Requirements have been upgraded in recent years for all levels of achievement awards. Only one community, Davis, California, achieved the highest level award, Platinum.
One way to improve bicycling in our communities it to support and seek guidance from the Compete the Streets Coalitions. Website:
<a href="http://www.completethestreets.org/">http://www.completethestreets.org/</a>;
Michael Jackson stated that the "Implementation Progress Report" for the 2002 Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Access Master Plan is now available. The report was prepared for the Maryland Department of Transportation by Cambridge Systematics, Inc. and Toole Design Group, LLC. I will bring a copy to the next McBAG meeting scheduled for Thursday, February 15, 2007. Everyone is welcomed to attend.
McBAG meetings are held from 6:30 - 8:30 PM in the Montgomery County Executive Office Building (EOB), 101 Monroe Street, Rockville, Maryland, 10th floor large conference room.
Keep Biking
Bill Michie