To kick off the Transportation Functional Master Plan (TFMP) study, three public listening sessions were conducted to solicit citizen feedback about transportation throughout the County. All listening sessions featured sign-up sheets for individuals wishing to testify. Written comments were also accepted. Sessions were from 6:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the following schools:
- January 20, 2011 at Southern Senior High School
- February 8, 2011 at Annapolis Senior High School
- February 28, 2011 at Meade Middle School
County Executive. Leopold has appointed a Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) that will provide insight about the analysis, findings and recommendations developed over the course of the study. Following are the members of the CAC:
- Katherine Falk, Chair
- William Nevel, Vice Chair
- Phil Bissett
- Maureen Carr
- David Cosner
- Michael Gellner
- Benjamin Hilliard
- Lenora McMillian
The study is being conducted by a consultant team under the direction of the Office of Planning and Zoning (OPZ) and is 80% funded through a Federal transportation planning grant. Upon request, OPZ staff will brief civic associations, professional and business groups about the TFMP progress and expectations; and will seek input to the study.
The thirteen highway corridors being studied are:
- US 50: Prince George's County Line to WP Lane Memorial (Chesapeake Bay) Bridge
- MD 2: Central Avenue (MD 214) to West Street (MD 450)
- MD 2: US 50 to I-695
- I-97: US 50 to I-695
- MD 32: I-97 to Howard County
- MD 100: MD 648 to Howard County Line
- MD 295: Prince George's County to I-695
- MD 3: Prince George's County to MD 32
- Magothy Bridge Rd to Hog Neck Rd (MD 607) to Ft. Smallwood Rd (MD 173) to Baltimore City Line
- Benfield Blvd: I-97 to MD 2
- MD 176 (Dorsey Road): MD 179 to MD 2
- MD 170: MD 2 to MD 175
- Ridge Road (MD 713): MD 176 to MD 175
As the County continues to experience growth in population and employment, it faces both challenges to mobility and quality of life that are associated with that growth. The objective of this project is to seek concept-level transportation solutions with impacts and costs for various alternatives for the nine specific corridors identified within the County. This project will bring elements of the recently adopted General Development Plan (2009); GDP Background Report on Transportation, (2008) and the Anne Arundel County Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan, (2003) together into the Transportation Functional Master Plan document.
The goal of the transportation study is to identify, analyze, and understand the relationship between land use patterns and the mobility and accessibility constraints and opportunities within the County and their interaction within the region. In other words, this study needs to provide "smart" transportation improvements that decrease congestion along the corridor, enhance travel choices, and improve safety for vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians while not substantially changing the character of the corridors. This document and the proposed recommendations will assist County planners, land developers, decision makers, and budgets regarding future investments and improvements for highway, transit (bus and rail), non-motorized facilities such as paths and trails as well as intermodal connections such as Park and Rides.
The effort will also include review and revision to Countywide travel forecasting and travel demand models, traffic data collection, traffic and transit operations analyses, modeling of existing and future roadway networks, and review and development of functional roadway classifications within the specified corridors, system and demand management strategies, multi-modal alternatives development including cross-section elements and public outreach.
To date, the consultant has completed an extensive review of existing travel conditions in the thirteen corridors. This work is presented in a Techninal Memorandum dated March 2011 and can be accessed via this web page under "Quick Links." Following the analysis of existing conditions, the consultant team will forecast traffic volumes and levels of congestion for each of the corridors; and will identify alternatives for mitigating anticipated traffic congestion to the extent feasible.
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