A week after election, Maryland walking issues remain
James T. Smith started the rebuilding of this pedestrian bridge in Baltimore County. It will now be up to Kevin Kamenetz to finish it.
Baltimore Sun photo by Lloyd Fox.
Last week's gubernatorial election results will influence a bunch of well-documented transportation issues, including construction of the red and purple lines and the completion of the ICC. Michael Dresser wrote about the transit part of that last week, and he covered the ICC topic in today's paper.
On a more local level, here are a few projects that are likely to be influenced by election results:
-- While the construction at Robert E. Lee Park is largely complete, the election of Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz makes it even more likely that the bridge project near Lake Roland will be finished. Predecessor James T. Smith shares many ties with Kamenetz, so it's in their shared interest to make the project work.-- In the city, the Jones Falls Trail plan is still working its way forward, with eventual extension to the Inner Harbor planned. While the mayoral seat was not up for grabs this year, state and national funding decisions will have a role to play in that plan's success or failure.
-- In Anne Arundel County, a portion of the B&A trail has been washed out since earlier this year. While the trail was hardly a major point of dispute in John Leopold's victory over Joanna Conti, the outcome will probably influence funding for this type of project.
What's probably the most strident debate, however, will likely continue as a result of Martin O'Malley's reelection: Had Robert Ehrlich been returned to office, he would likely have changed the Purple Line from a light rail plan to a rapid bus system. In doing so, it's nearly certain that he would have put an end to Montgomery County resident's worries about rail-pedestrian conflicts in the Capital Crescent Trail corridor. (An opposition voice can be found, here.)
Instead, that debate is likely to drag on for a least another couple of years. The good news for me: I'll have plenty of walking/politics fodder to blog about. Construction on the line isn't scheduled to start until 2013.
Categories: Bicycling, Politics, Running, Walking
