ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Calvin Ball today announced the launch of an update to BikeHoward, the County’s Bicycle Master Plan. BikeHoward provides guidance for improvements for transportation and recreational bicycling, both on-street and off-street. The County’s Office of Transportation is seeking the public’s feedback as it begins the process of updating BikeHoward. After a decade, the time has come for Transportation to review the original plan, analyze pertinent data, and gather public feedback to guide the County forward in its bicycle infrastructure development and programming for the next 10 years.
BikeHoward has helped guide us in the development of our county’s bicycle network and programs. Through our historic investments in the plan, we’ve been able to drastically expand the number of bike lanes and multimodal facilities throughout our community, improving the interconnectivity amongst our residents. We have been able to accomplish a lot these past 10 years and are excited to see what the future holds. With your feedback and guidance, this update will allow our Office of Transportation to ensure our bicycle master plan is continuing to meet the needs of all our residents and community members.
As part of its update process, Transportation will host four public workshops from February 23rd to March 10th to discuss BikeHoward, answer questions, and gather public comment. Transportation staff and project consultants will be on hand for each and the workshops will not include a formal prestation. The workshops will take place on:
- Monday, February 23rd from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Howard County Library System’s (HCLS) Elkridge branch
- Tuesday, March 3rd from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at HCLS’s Miller branch
- Part of Transportation’s Transportation Open House event
- Thursday, March 5th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the County’s Department of Recreation & Parks’ North Laurel Community Center
- Tuesday, March 10th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at HCLS’s Central branch
Those unable to attend the public workshops, will be able to view the meeting materials on Transportation’s BikeHoward website beginning February 23rd. On this same page, community members will also find a public survey to share their feedback with Transportation, starting February 23rd through March 31st.
Transportation anticipates the BikeHoward update process will take place through this summer, with a targeted adoption of the updated plan by the Howard County Council by the end of summer.
The Howard County Council last adopted BikeHoward ten years ago, in April 2016. The Office of Transportation was the lead agency administering the planning process, and the plan was developed with extensive input from the community, as well as many related agencies, in particular the Departments of Planning and Zoning, Public Works, and Recreation and Parks.
For questions regarding the BikeHoward update and upcoming workshops, contact Transportation’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Mr. Chris Eatough at 410-313-0567 or email ceatough@howardcountymd.gov. Additionally, an interpreter for people who are deaf or hard of hearing will be available if requested seven working days prior to a workshop date by contacting Mr. Eatough.