Transportation Fee Ties Taylor in Knots

Early in the week, the Director of the Department of Aging and Disabilities, Wayne Taylor, said the County was going to start charging $2 per round trip on the County shuttle. On Friday, his boss, John Leopold, made him take it back.

"Ballstonization", One Salve for Sprawl

Today's Post has an interesting article on what, at this point, should be fairly common sense: The areas surrounding Metro stations in the DC region should be high-density, walkable, mixed-use communities. The prime example of the successfulness of this model is Ballston, VA.

Some are perplexed as to how bringing more people to a community could possibly reduce congestion, but the reality is, in a well-connected neighborhood, like those surrounding metro stations, once a critical mass is achieved, businesses and amenities can sustain themselves largely based on the foot traffic from the area, and individuals are able to work either in their community, or within the range of public transit, reducing the need for car trips.

We know building more roads isn't the solution, and given that each of these metro stops represents tens of millions of dollars in public investment, it's important that we take full advantage of these resources and focus growth where it makes sense.

Purple Line Passion

The Post's Dr. Gridlock gives his take on recent efforts to push for the Metro Purple Line, which would link Bethesda to New Carrollton.

Balking at Another Bay Bridge

Tuesday's Capital reported on the ongoing discussion about whether or not to build another Bay crossing. On the table is a potential new span from one of four locations [pdf]:

• Another span at the existing RT 50 location.
  
• Southern Anne Arundel County/Calvert County to Talbot County.
  
• Baltimore County to Kent County.
  
• Southern Calvert County to Dorchester County.
  

The truth of the matter is, I don't think there's a decision before state residents right now that has the potential to wreak more environmental havoc and create more sprawl than this one. Perhaps not even the infamous inter-county connector. Already, the eastern shore is saddled with more growth, faster than its existing residents seem to want it. Opening another bridge, particularly one that crosses the Bay at a different point would cause overnight growth explosions in Kent, Talbot or Dorchester County.

Dire predictions about traffic are given by the MTA, should nothing be done: More than 230,000 cars will drive past Annapolis daily by 2025; backups lasting 12 hours on the weekends and regularly backing up even on non-summer weekdays by 2015. But, we all know, or should know, that building another bridge is just going to draw more people to cross, and that we'll be facing the exact same problem 20 years down the road.

So, do we continue to build more bridges, creating more congestion, and the need for more bridges, feed the eastern shore to the development wolves, and create future generations of Dorchester to DC commuters, or do we just leave things as they are? Two thousand residents of Kent County, Worcester County Commissioner Sonny Bloxom, and Walter C. Thompson, former president of the Maryland Motor Truck Association, have all made their opinions on the matter clear. You can submit your comments to the Task Force here.

Check out the information for yourself at the Bay Crossing Task Force home page.

The Road to Perdition

I would guess it's fairly uniform opinion that for both sheer length, and ugliness of that length, Route 2 walks away with Anne Arundel County's most blighted road award. Stretches of the enveloping Route 3 and commercial Crain Highway are competitive, but ultimately, I think, Route 2 triumphs.

It runs the full height of the county, from Brooklyn Park in the north, through Glen Burnie, Pasadena, Severna Park, past Annapolis, into Edgewater and points south, eventually exiting into Calvert County. The commercial creep apparently exited off Aris T. Allen Blvd and headed south.

The Sunday Capital ran the first of a two-part piece on the explosion of commercial growth along the segment of Route 2 south of the South River bridge. The stretch that has boomed, located in the short distance between the River and Route 214 has added something like 3 new gas stations, several convenience stores, a CVS, Wal-Greens, and a several store strip mall. And that's all before the 150,000 sq/ft of commercial space goes in at the Village at Lee Airpark.

Good thing the state just poured $25 million into widening the road, which now backs up with recent arrivals. One local resident summed it up well, "Initially it freed up traffic....Now that it's up and running, it's beginning to look like it was when it was (just) two lanes."

Perhaps the SHA needs a new motto: If you build it, they will come....and clog it.

Anne Arundel Economic Development Director, Bill Badger, has in the past cited Edgewater as a model of "smart growth." If that's the case, Mr. Badger, why is Edgewater now bedecked with the same garish crap that every other slightly inhabited nook of the county is blighted with, or are we to assume Anne Arundel County is a "smart growth" paradise?

We Must Destroy the Stream to Save It

On occasion, politicians are accused of being humorless. Let that charge never be leveled against Governor Ehrlich. In an Associated Press piece covered in yesterday's Capital, the Guv said the proposed Inter-County Connector (ICC) "will help replenish choked streams, rebuild wetlands and protect wildlife." The Inter-County Connector, which would effectively be an outer beltway, running through many undeveloped parts of Montgomery and Prince George's counties, has been hailed by its supporters (including Ehrlich, Montgomery Exec. Doug Duncan, and others) as a cure to metro Maryland's traffic congestion problems. Opponents have declared the Inter-County Connector one of the the 27 most wasteful road projects in America, as well as an environmental nightmare.

Whether the Governor's comments were intended to elicit belly laughs from those in attendance at his bus tour of the proposed ICC routes, or he truly believes his doublespeak will fool some people into supporting this project is unclear. What is clear, is that the Governor and others supporting the ICC have consistently overlooked the far more sensible Purple Line Metro extension that would connect metro Maryland suburbs, and avoid the additional traffic congestion associated with more roads.

The proposed $2.4 billion in additional pavement is not what this region or its "streams, wetlands, or wildlife" need. Bob Ehrlich surely must have a sense of humor, problem is, the joke's on us.

More information on the Purple Line.

Moving Violations

Two pieces in today's Capital hint at both one source and symptom of the poor regional transportation planning that has gone on in the County and the State. First, over 40,000 families in the County (with a population around 460,000) have three or more cars (an 11 percent increase over 1990). At least part of the increase in car prevalance is certainly due to the inadequacy of public transportation options, a sentiment echoed by Ann Fligsten of the Arnold Preservation Council, who said she might be able to get rid of her family's third car if better bus routes were available.

As part of an effort to make sure more funding is available for transportation, Delegate John Leopold of Pasadena, is proposing to introduce an Amendment to the Maryland Constitution to prevent transportation funds from being raided for general fund use. From 1984 to 2003, almost $500 million has been taken from the transportation fund for the general fund. While many of Mr. Leopold's more conservative colleagues would apparently like to use this as an opportunity to build more roads and gut public transportation, it's important for public transportation advocates who support the amendment to be sure that, should transportation funding get additional protections, the money be used responsibly, to fund public transportation, bike, and pedestrian projects, as well as road construction.