Howard County is a great place to live and raise a family. Our community is home to a number one rated school system, is centrally located between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and has a great number of amenities that attract families from all over the United States. These are just a few of the reasons why Howard County’s population grows each year.
Growth doesn’t come without pains however, and clearly, the Kittleman Administration has long made it known they are doing everything they can to assure that residents have a comfortable spot to call home despite ongoing development. With Columbia named multiple times this decade as one of Money magazine’s “America’s Best Places to Live” as proof, the local government is doing something right.
Still, growing pains are – well, pains. And, while no one in the D.C.-Baltimore area can imagine more highway congestion, it will take some effort to accommodate the population growth we’ve seen here in Howard County.
Kittleman Has A Transportation Plan
County Executive Allan Kittleman understands this need and has recently demonstrated his commitment to softening the traffic blows by dedicating $315.7 million in the 2017 Fiscal Year Budget for necessary transportation projects.
The Kittleman ’17 Transportation budget calls for $5 million for much-needed road resurfacing efforts, $22.9 million dedicated to road construction and $3.7 million allocated to constructing sidewalks, curbs, and traffic improvements to promote walking, biking and public transportation as prescribed in the Kittleman Administration’s Complete Streets Policy.
These multi-million dollar projects will be necessary to support residents’ ability to get around. Fortunately, the Howard County Council agreed and unanimously passed the Kittleman budget without significant amendment on May 26th, 2016.
During Baltimore Business Journal’s “Future of Columbia” panel discussion last month, Allan acknowledged that there is a fast-approaching limit to the number of roads the County can build to accommodate the unavoidable onslaught of motor vehicle traffic.
There, Kittleman emphasized that the 30-year plan for Howard County must include the development of an efficient public transit system.
Allan Kittleman Is Working With Regional Leaders
Allan Kittleman is also Chair of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board and has already begun working with regional officials to improve mass transit in our area.
And as Allan and his team work toward better public transit options, his ’17 budget allocates almost $4 million to promote alternative modes of locomotion such as sidewalk construction and curb improvements, which will encourage walking, biking, and other forms of personal transportation.
Howard County residents are right to express concern about traffic congestion. Thankfully, we have a County Executive in Allan Kittleman who appreciates their concerns and has vowed to tackle the issue head-on.
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