Planners May Alter Highway Bike Path: Environmental Concerns Along ...

Tag : Connector

Now, the possibility of building a continuous, off-road bicycle andwalking trail along the Maryland highway's 18.8-mile route is injeopardy -- in the name of protecting the environment.
Montgomery County planners say a continuous 10-foot-wide asphalt bike path wouldcause too much damage to ecologically sensitive parkland traversedby the toll road under construction between Gaithersburg andLaurel. Instead, planners say, cyclists and walkers should bedetoured in some areas onto local roads, such as New HampshireAvenue and Layhill Road.
But bicycle enthusiasts say forgoing a continuous off-road trail onenvironmental grounds is absurd, saying damage from a path would beminuscule compared with that from the highway. Requiring walkersand cyclists to use sidewalks along busy roads, they say, would betoo intimidating and potentially dangerous for many people,particularly recreational riders and children.
"We really don't understand the rationale behind dropping abike trail for environmental issues when they're already running abig highway through there," said Eric Gilliland , executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association .
Just as bewildering, bike advocates say, is the timing. As gasolineprices, traffic jams and waistlines grow, governments have beenpushing cycling and walking as healthy, eco-friendly ways to getaround.
The debate is playing out before the Montgomery County PlanningBoard, which will decide whether to preserve the bike route thatruns adjacent to the highway and through parkland, as outlined inthe county's master plan, or support a state plan that would usesome local roads. The Planning Board is scheduled to consider theissue again next month before making recommendations to the CountyCouncil, which will have the final say.
The problems, county planners say, started in 2004, when Marylandhighway officials conducting a fast-tracked environmental study ofthe connector dropped plans for an off-road bike path. At the time,highway officials were facing a federal review of the connectorproposal, which had been stymied for decades because ofenvironmental concerns. Highway officials said they cut the biketrail because they needed to curb costs and reduce the project'senvironmental "footprint."
The state eventually agreed to build 11.4 miles of a trail inseparate segments in Prince George 's and Montgomery counties. That left county officials to linkthose new pieces along local roads by using existing bike lanes andsidewalks or building new ones.
Although the long-planned east-west bike path through centralMontgomery avoids local roads, it falls within the state-ownedright of way for the connector, said Chuck Kines, bikeways plannerfor the Montgomery planning department. Connecting the state-builtpieces of a new bike path without using state-owned property orlocal roads would require building a trail through county parkland,Kines said.
Many Montgomery parks department officials who act as stewards ofthat parkland want to protect its flood plains, wetlands and largeforests, including habitat for endangered species, Kines said. Thatmeans limiting rainwater runoff from pavement, including asphaltbike paths, that can contaminate streams and other habitat.
As a transportation planner, Kines said, he believes it would be"shortsighted" not to build a continuous, off-road bike path alongthe highway. However, he said, parks officials think improvinglocal roads, such as by widening sidewalks to accommodate bikes,would be sufficient.
"As environmental planners, they're concerned about environmentalimpacts, not necessarily whether a bike path serves its intendedpurpose," Kines said.
Bike advocates say riding on a separated parklike trail is farsafer than navigating parked cars and driveways on streets. Acontinuous, off-road path along the connector route, they say,would provide a vital east-west link in the region's trail networkthat would enable people to ride or jog safely betweenGaithersburg, Rockville, Clarksburg, Silver Spring and Laurel.
"It's their duty to build a transportation facility thataccommodates all vehicles, not just automobiles," said JackCochrane, chairman of Montgomery Bicycle Advocates, which pushesfor improved bike amenities.
Bike advocates say bike paths can be made more eco-friendly bybeing built around environmentally sensitive areas or as wooden,water-draining boardwalks.
Construction on the $2.4 billion highway began in November. It isscheduled to open in segments between 2010 and 2012.