Urban Discoveries Baltimore

We’re embarrassed a lot of the time by how much we drive.  Sure, we talk a big game on this blog about how we’re so into public transportation and biking – and we are – but we could heed our own advice a little better.  The truth of it is that sometimes it doesn’t feel like the roads we walk or ride on were built for us… mostly because the weren’t, they’re built for cars.

That may be changing soon.  New legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate and House to “ensure that all users of the transportation system, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, children, older individuals, and individuals with disabilities, are able to travel safely and conveniently on and across federally funded streets and highways.”  These bills are, in part, the result of the “complete the streets” movement.

Completing the streets doesn’t mean paving gravel roads or filling potholes, but rather making streets more easily accessible for community and pedestrian use.  The intended effect of completed streets is to make drivers more conscientious of the neighborhoods in which they’re traveling.  A good local example of a completed street would be the intersection of 33rd and St. Paul Street in Charles Village.  A wide, tree-planted median that divides traffic and gives walkers a place to pause as they cross the street, on-street parking that slows down traffic, and bike lanes are all components of completed streets- and are all present there.

If you’re interested in learning more, or supporting these bills as they make their way through Congress, you may want to consider stopping by the Complete the Streets website or the Transportation for America lobbyist group. Or, to take Tip O’Neill’s advice about all politics being local, send a letter down to Annapolis. Other states have passed complete streets legislation, why not Maryland?

Posted in: Charles Village, TransportationNo Comments