Are you over-fertilizing your lawn? Find out through FREE Soil Testing and be a part of protecting and restoring Columbia's waters!
Four Easy Steps:
1. Pick up a Soil Bag at your Village Center
2. Collect your sample
3. Return it to the Village Center and CA will sent it to a lab for testing
4. Brief workshops will be held in Villages to interpret the results
Held in partnership with CA, Columbia Villages, MASCD and HSCD. For more information on how you can be a part of watershed restoration, visit
ColumbiaWatershed.org.
CA is developing an Active Transportation Action Agenda to create a more interconnected and comprehensive bicycling and walking circulation system for health, recreational and transportation purposes. This project will result in a list of action items that will improve safe pedestrian and bicycle connections throughout Columbia, with an emphasis on CA's pathways. This project will be coordinated with the County's Bicycle Master Plan initiative, which will focus more on the county's roadways.
Click the buttons below for specific information:
General Information
» Goal:
To create a more interconnected bicycling and walking circulation system in Columbia for health, recreational, and transportation purposes
» Objectives:
Increase the amount of bicycling and walking throughout Columbia among people of all ages and abilities
Improve the safety of the pathway system
Increase connectivity to key destinations
Make Columbia's pathway network is easy to navigate
Coordinate this project with the County's Bicycle Master Plan.
» Desired Outcome:
Desired outcomes for this project include an implementable action agenda that establishes priorities for Columbia bicycling and pedestrian network improvements; identifies implementation projects, including a pathway signage/wayfinding pilot project; creates a series of route maps; recommends partnerships; and identifies responsible parties for the implementation projects.
At the April meeting of the Active Transportation Action Agenda task force, the Toole Design Group presented an overview of the preliminary recommendations for the action agenda, including an initial hierarchy of pathways and on-road bicycle/pedestrian connections, intersection improvements/considerations, as well as example local neighborhood connections. The meeting concluded with a discussion of the initial findings, and anticipated recommendations to be reviewed prior to the May Task Force meeting. Later in the month, staff and task force members also participated in a walking and biking tours led by Toole Design to highlight pathway conditions, challenges to connectivity, suggested improvements and potential locations for wayfinding signage.
» MARCH
Existing Conditions Analysis and County Coordination
Toole Design Group completed initial pathway field work and gave a presentation of their analysis and findings to the task force on March 15. John Byrd, Director of Howard County's Department of Recreation and Parks also met with the task force to provide an overview of what pathway improvements the county is planning to make in the short and long-term. David Cookson from the county's Department of Planning and Zoning also addressed the task force and provided information on Maryland Department of Transportation bikeway grants Howard County was recently awarded that will
improve connectivity within and around Columbia, as well as another grant that is to fund a signed bike route between Columbia to Fort Meade.
» FEBRUARY
Exsting Conditions Analysis
Consultants Toole Design Group, with assistance from CA Staff, have begun field work and analysis to assess existing walking and bicycling conditions of Columbia's pathway system and the associated roads and sidewalks that connect to the system and adjacent destinations. This will continue through mid-March. During the January civic engagement process, some stakeholders articulated a desire to have the pathways assessed for their possible use for certain types of motorized vehicles. Based on this request, CA amended the consultant scope to include an assessment of the pathways for possible use by certain types of motorized travel within the pathway system, including golf carts, Segways, and electric-assist bicycles. Please note that electric wheelchairs were already part of the original scope of work.
» JANUARY
Kick-off Workshops January 2012
CA hosted two open houses on January 11 and 12. Participants reviewed maps, took a survey and made suggestions on how to improve walking and biking in Columbia with a focus on CA's pathways. CA and consultants Toole Design Group also gave a brief presentation, which was followed by a Q&A session. More than 120 people attended these meetings. Preliminary results summarizing what we heard from meeting participants, and those who used the online mapping or survey tools are now available
Civic Engagement
We want the community's help identify needs, potential solutions, and area of concern. Public workshops, meetings, walk and biking tours, and an on-line commenting tool will all provide ways to be involved.
» Public Meetings:
CA hosts public meetings to gather ideas from the community, and to keep the community informed of the projects progress.
MAY 23 Preliminary Recommendations Public Meeting:
Come, learn about and discuss the preliminary recommendations for Connecting Columbia - CA's Active Transportation Action Agenda. This is your chance to shape the recommendations to improve connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists in Columbia before they are finalized. Bring your friends and family. The meeting will take place on May 23rd at The Other Barn (5851 Robert Oliver Place Columbia, MD 21045) from 7:00 - 9:00pm. Visit our EventBrite page to register for this event. Registration is appreciated, but not required.
• Meeting Flyer
APRIL 25 EVENT - The Path Forward: Cycling Innovations Across the US
Jennifer Toole - a nationally-recognized expert in bicycle and pedestrian planning and design presented on April 25, 7:30pm, at Slayton House as part of Columbia's Community Building Speakers' Series. Toole discussed selected US communities and their successes creating greenways, safe bike lanes, and other changes that make these communities more livable, enjoyable, and more economically competitive. Jennifer Toole is the lead consultant for the Connecting Columbia project and founder of Toole Design Group.
» Task Force:
CA has established a Connecting Columbia Task Force that is providing guidance to the Columbia Association as it develops the active transportation action agenda. It is comprised of community members who have a variety of interests and experiences using active modes of transportation on Columbia pathways.
