From Harford County Government:
The Harford County Department of Planning and Zoning has initiated the development of a Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. The Plan is an important part of helping to make Harford County a truly multimodal community; one that supports and promotes increased bicycle and pedestrian activity. It is also an important step in helping Harford County become a healthier community.
The Plan will identify needed facilities and present actions for implementation. The development of the Plan is being guided by an advisory committee that represents a variety of stakeholders and agencies whose help is needed to implement the Plan.
Anticipated to be a year-long process, the development of the Plan will include opportunities for public input. In addition to public workshops, citizens will be able to follow the process and provide comments online at the Department’s website www.harfordcountymd.gov/planningzoning.
The public input process will officially begin on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 with an open-house workshop at the Harford County Government Administration Building located at 220 S. Main Street in Bel Air. The workshop will be conducted from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. in the second floor conference room. Participants are welcome to stop in anytime during the period to learn more about bicycle and pedestrian issues and to provide input on how to improve conditions for biking and walking throughout the County.
In addition to the workshop, public input will also be accepted online at the Department’s website. Public comments will be accepted through April 16, 2012.
For more information or disability related accommodations please contact the Department of Planning and Zoning at 410-638-3104.
Recreational bike paths are very nice but if you want to be truly multimodal there needs to be safe access through and across the most congested areas of the county. At this point, biking along or across 24 isn’t safe. Someone just got hit last week walking on the shoulder by the DMV. The hospital is a very large employer and working on some major construction right now. This is one example of opportunities to include access for bicyclists and walkers to safely get onto or past the property. The closest example I can think of would be the path that goes along Rt. 24 in Forest Hill. It’s a wide path with a grass buffer between the path and the street. Some of this seems like it’s too late to accomplish. When you see brand new construction with multi level parking and acres of impervious surfaces but very little thought given to bicycles and walkers it’s somewhat disheartening. Traffic is going to get very …very congested over the next few years. I hope we come up with some practical and safe alternatives to driving everywhere. For now it looks like 24 south of Rte 1 is going to be impossible to cross without taking your life in your hands. I guess it’s good that the hospital is so close.