Our county leaders are in talks about a complete streets bill which would help the county be more bikeable and walkable, and they need to hear from you right now.
Last week, many of you attended the county executive's second FY 2020 budget hearing and participated in our complete streets learning session. THANK YOU! Because of your support, the county is making it a priority to build safer spaces for biking, walking and riding the bus.
Special thanks to Councilwoman Christiana Mercer Rigby and Acting Director of the Howard County Office of Transportation Chris Eatough for sharing your commitment to a strong complete streets vision. Thanks also to Board of Education Chair Mavis Ellis and Member Sabina Taj for joining us.
At the session, we discussed the importance of a strong county vision, funding and laws to making changes that all of us can see and use.
At the hearing, people and organizations testifying in support of Bikeway and complete streets funding included: Alex Obriecht of Race Pace Bicycles, Chris Tsien of the Bicycling Advocates of Howard County, Jennifer White of the American Heart Association, Annalisse Daly of the Guilford community, Nikki Highsmith Vernick of the Horizon Foundation, Kevin McAliley of the Wilde Lake Community Association, Susan Garber of the Savage Community Association and Larry Schoen of the Multimodal Transportation Board.
We need (1) increased Bikeway funding and (2) a strong complete streets law to make sure we have safe spaces for biking, walking and riding the bus for years to come. These measures “will ensure our youth can safely get to part-time job opportunities after school and people with disabilities get around town without the challenges of disconnected sidewalks,” White said in her testimony.
Please keep the drumbeat going and tell county leaders you want safer, better biking and walking now.
