September 5, 2017
The bicycle and pedestrian bridge over US 29 closed today for the bridge improvements
project. The bridge will be closed for the duration of the construction, which
we expect to be a period of about 3 months. During this time, pedestrians and
bicyclists will not be able to access the bridge. Office of Transportation
Staff will be on site at the Lakefront end of the bridge today from 3:30PM to
6:30PM and on the Oakland Mills end of the bridge from 6:00AM to 9:00AM Wednesday
through Friday to answer questions about the project, issue bus passes, and aid
bridge users in finding alternatives.
August 11, 2017
The project to renovate and improve
the bicycle and pedestrian bridge over US 29 is quickly approaching! Howard
County expects to close the bridge during the first week of September, and
construction will start immediately afterwards.
The improvement project will
replace the current “cage” with a spiraling geodesic tube, upgrade the lighting
on the bridge, and install fiber to provide police with clearer images from the
security cameras on the bridge. Unfortunately, the project will require the
bridge to be closed for approximately three months.
If
your essential travel will be disrupted by the bridge closure, please contact
the Office of Transportation at (410) 313-4312
. Howard County will offer free bus
passes valid for travel between Oakland Mills and Downtown Columbia while the
bridge is closed. If you commute across the bridge when the bus does not
run, please call the Office of Transportation at (410) 313-4312 to learn about
available assistance.
The "How to Get Around the Closure" section of this website contains important information on bus schedules, carpooling, and bicycling via a different route.
May 2, 2017
In 35 hours of surveying, the survey team conducted 193 interviews with
a total of 271 bridge users. The single most frequently mentioned trip purpose
was exercise, with 96 respondents stating that as a purpose for their trip. The
second most common trip purpose was travelling to work, with 73 respondents
providing that answer, and the third most common trip purpose was travelling to
the mall, with 47 respondents providing that as an answer. Those who used the
bridge tended to use it often; more than a quarter of those surveyed stated
that they used the bridge every day, nearly two-thirds used it more than once
per week, and more than eight in ten users crossed the bridge at least once per
week. Notably, of the 73 who gave work as a purpose of their trip, 39 made the
trip every day – a rate twice as high as the rate of every-day bridge users
among the full surveyed population.
The most commonly
mentioned option for alternative travel between Oakland Mills and Downtown
Columbia during the bridge closure was riding the bus; more than 30 percent of
bridge users mentioned that option. Only slightly fewer—just under 30
percent—mentioned taking a different route or going someplace else. Daily commuters
were much more bus-dependent than the surveyed population as a whole; 37 of 44
daily commuters (84 percent) mentioned the bus as a method of travel during the
bridge’s closure. Evening and midday hours were the busiest, while early- and
mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and late evening were less busy. The highest level
of bridge use—in the 4:30 to 7:00 PM hours—may be due to people who use the
bridge for recreational purposes after they get home from their daily
activities. The surveying also yielded an estimate that 226 people use the
bridge in a typical weekday.
March 24, 2017
Starting March 26, 2017, Howard County and KCI Technologies will be conducting a survey to assess the impact of the bridge's coming temporary closure and determine the best way to mitigate the closure for bridge users.
March 8, 2017
Executive Kittleman announced that work will begin this fall to improve the bridge. To read the full statement and watch the announcement, click here.