This past summer the city of College Park applied for a $425,000 grant to pay for design, engineering and construction of a bicycle/pedestrian bridge across Paint Branch that would connect the Paint Branch Trail to Route 1 near the yet-to-be-built Starview Plaza. (The bridge is not on the site plan at right).
"It's to make trail connection similar to the pedestrian bridge at University View, which gets lots of use, and now that it's in place, a lot of students use it and it's their fastest way to campus," Vitale said.
The midtown bridge would be the final connecting piece for the city, which has another planned bridge adjacent to North Gate Park at the University of Maryland, College Park's main entrance.
Establishing greater pedestrian/biker access through the city was one of the stated goals of the city and Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission when developing the Route 1 sector plan in 2002, Vitale said.
"We hope this will get people out of their cars and hopefully give people a safe and convenient bike/pedestrian route," she said.
Starview Plaza, will also feature "bicycle storage facilities with a minimum of 40 bicycle parking spaces" as part of a compromise that allowed them to reduce the on site parking requirement.
I couldn't determine when those grants will be awarded, but it may not be until May. And with $25-30 million worth of requests statewide seeking only $4.2 million, it may be a long shot.
Comments