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James Rouse envisioned one Columbia. Today there are two, divided by US 29.

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Traveling as the crow flies a mini-bus could get between Town Center and Oakland Mills in two minutes.

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Instead we must make a 10 to 15 minute trip by car or bus, wasting time, energy and Howard County bus operating dollars.  We can no longer afford to waste these resources, or live with the carbon dioxide we produce while while we’re doing it.

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The only alternative today is the existing footbridge, and it’s available only to pedestrians and bicyclists.

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. . . and it is hard to find.

Walking north along Stevens Forest Road in Oakland Mills, for example, one sees no signs marking the way to the footbridge.

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. . . and it looks unsafe.

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. . . which means that it is poorly used.

With its low usage and fenced enclosure, one easily feels isolated and trapped while walking the bridge.

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Suppose we made the bridge wide enough to carry small, electrically driven buses, along with bicycles and pedestrians. Buses and emergency vehicles would be the only vehicles allowed. With more width and more “eyes on the bridge,” it would feel inviting and safe.

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The bridge would become the linchpin of a transit / bike / pedestrian spine that would unite Columbia with a single walkable urban corridor.

Shown is Denver’s 16th Street pedestrian-oriented urban corridor.

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Columbia’s walkable urban corridor would stretch from Howard County General Hospital and Howard Community College to the new Blandair Park.

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The Howard County bus system would save between 10 and 15 minutes of operating time on every one of its 65 trips that cross US 29 every day

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James Rouse, when he laid out Columbia, made sure that we would have the route. That right of way is still there and available.

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The widened bridge could be entirely redesigned to give Columbia a new symbol: One Bridge, One Columbia. Travelers on US 29 would at last know they have entered the Next America.

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Bridge Columbia is consistent with the new Town Center Plan and the Oakland Mills Master Plan. The Town Center rezoning approved in 2009 requires Howard Hughes Properties to establish a bus shuttle between the Hospital, the Community College, and the Town Center and improve the pedestrian bike system in and around the Town Center. Bridge Columbia would simply extend that shuttle and those improvements to Oakland Mills and Blandair. Bridge Columbia also supports the Oakland Mills Master Plan’s expressed desire to enhance its connection with Town Center.

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Howard County is already setting up an electric bus shuttle between Howard Community College and Town Center. With Bridge Columbia, that could easily be extended to Oakland Mills and beyond.

Shown is a lightweight electric bus in France.

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Howard County spends millions of capital dollars every year supporting automobile travel. If environmental sustainability and more compact land use are really our goals, isn’t it time to switch some of those dollars to supporting transit? Matching funding is available from Federal and state transit funds. The Town Center developer and the Columbia Association’s pedestrian and bicycle system would benefit from Bridge Columbia. They also could be expected to contribute. When the funds become available, Bridge Columbia can be built and in use within three years.

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What can you do?

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