Input sought on safer bicycle, walking paths in western county
Planner says he would like to see residents make walking, bicycling a 'way of life'Baltimore County officials are asking for the public’s input on how to make the county more friendly for cyclists and pedestrians.
The county wants to make biking and walking easier and safer while using those activities as another way to moderate automobile use, according to Richard Layman, a county planner.
People walk a mile in 15 to 20 minutes and can bike a mile in just five or six minutes, Layman said.
“Since 28 percent of household trips are 1 mile or less and 50 percent are 3 miles or less, you can see how a goodly chunk of car trips (can be eliminated),” he said.
The county’s Office of Planning will hold a public input meeting April 27 at the Catonsville Library to hear about residents’ biking and walking experiences and how to improve them.
The Tuesday evening meeting on the development of a Western County Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Plan will focus on the First, Second, Third and Fourth Councilmanic Districts.
The western plan is phase two in the county’s overall biking plan. Phase one was the development, and approval in 2006, of a plan focusing on the eastern half of the county. The third phase will focus on developing a biking and pedestrian plan for the rural areas.
“Part of the problem with transportation projects is that they take a long time,” Layman said.
Parts of the plan that require road modifications would likely be implemented when already-scheduled roadwork is done.
“The biking and pedestrian improvements are still secondary to the road improvements,” Layman said.
Other parts of the plan might be executable more quickly, however, because they require only the effort of active residents, Layman said.
“The reason that Catonsville has more bike infrastructure than any other part of Baltimore County is because of active, ongoing citizen involvement,” he said.
One of those citizens is Kit Valentine, 68, who lives near the west end of Edmondson Avenue.
He worked with the county, Boy Scout troops and others to create Trolley Line No. 9, which runs from the western end of Edmondson Avenue to Oella Avenue, near Ellicott City.
In clearing out the trail, Valentine and others removed some serious trash, including 11 car bodies.
“It’s just one of those places where you wouldn’t let anybody walk back there. It was just a jungle,” Valentine said.
Now the trail is a way for area residents to get to Ellicott City without using a car.
“I am interested in getting trails together so that somebody can safely ride from point A to point B,” he said.
According to Valentine, Catonsville’s trails connect to a system of trails that cross the nation.
A rider can take the path no. 8 from Frederick Road to Edmondson Avenue, to the no. 9 trail, to Oella Avenue in Ellicott City, where they can pick up Frederick Road for a half mile southeast to River Road eastbound through Patapsco Valley State Park, to Ilchester Road.
“When you get through the park, we worked with Howard County and Anne Arundel County to connect to the BWI trail,” Valentine said.
The BWI Trail encircles Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
A spur on the east side of the airport connects to the Baltimore & Annapolis Rail Trail, which travels to Annapolis, where it connects with the East Coast Greenway Trail, a trail that runs about 3,000 miles from Callis, Maine, to the Florida Keys.
That trail crosses the American Discover Trail, which runs from Delaware to California, Valentine said.
On a smaller scale, Layman said that, if residents express interest at the April 27 meeting, Arbutus, Halethorpe and Catonsville could eventually be connected by a biking and walking trail system.
He thinks the communities would benefit from trails connecting the Halethorpe train station, at Southwestern Boulevard and Frances Avenue, to Arbutus and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus, which could then connect to downtown Catonsville.
That way, people could commute to work and to school, plus do their shopping, all without getting in a car, Layman said.
The final step in the biking and pedestrian plans will be encouraging people to change their lifestyles, Layman said.
People are often inclined to walk and bike while out of town on vacation, but are sometimes apprehensive about leaving their car behind for a commute, to go shopping or to run errands, he said.
“The purpose is to make it a way of life instead of something you do when you go on vacation,” he said.
Layman said that the drawbacks of walking and cycling are minimal.
“It doesn’t take much longer,” Layman said.
“It’s exercise without having to think about it,” said Layman, who doesn’t own a car even though he lives in the District of Columbia and works in Towson.
Rather than driving, he bikes from home to Union Station in Washington, takes a train to Penn Station in Baltimore and then cycles to Towson. He keeps a bike in Washington, another in Baltimore.
The public input meeting for the Western County Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Plan will be at the Catonsville Public Library, at 1100 Frederick Road, at 7 p.m. April 27.
Those unable to attend the meeting can fill out a survey at the plan’s website, <a href="http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/westbikeped">http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/westbikeped</a>;.
<a href="http://www.explorebaltimorecounty.com/news/105722/county-asks-input-safer-bicycle-paths/">http://www.explorebaltimorecounty.com/news/105722/county-asks-input-safer-bicycle-paths/</a>;
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