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?

"Bike indifferent," I like that. "Bike-friendly" would certainly be nice, but I'd be happy enough with just "Don't kill me, or make me feel like you're about to kill me." - MM

Community leaders hope the effort will reduce rates of obesity and hypertension and in turn lower hospital admissions and healthcare costs.

As federal officials continue to roll out elements of the healthcare package, local governments throughout the nation are engaged in efforts such as those in the beach cities that they say could have an even greater effect on people's health. Cities are working to add bike lanes, redo restaurant menus, create neighborhood gardens and make school lunches healthier — changes that health workers say will keep people out of doctors' offices and hospitals. They are driven by a basic principle: Preventing disease is less expensive than treating it.

"We need to change the built environment so when [residents] go out to restaurants, there are decent choices, and when they step out of their homes and they want to exercise, there are sidewalks and the bike paths are big enough," said Susan Burden, chief executive of the Beach Cities Health District, a government agency that provides preventive health services in the communities.

Although more cities are trying to increase residents' physical activity and improve their diets, the ones with the worst health problems are not usually among them, said Susan Babey, a research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. "The cities that are struggling the most don't have the resources to go out and compete for grants," she said. "They miss out on some opportunities that they could potentially really benefit from."