In 25 years, you might be missing the days when inching along Little Patuxent Parkway after work was merely annoying.
If growth explodes in Columbia?s Town Center, existing roads would not support the traffic, according to the initial data from an ongoing traffic study by Glatting Jackson, a land planning firm based in Orlando, Fla. The firm “better have some smaller scenarios. We should look at something that doesn?t have so much office area,” said Walter Kulash, Walter Kulash traffic engineer for Glatting Jackson. The plan for the Town Center has not been approved, and phases of construction that could take up to 30 years could begin as early as 2008. Initial plans for downtown are based on a report from theHoward County Department of Planning and Zoning titled “Columbia Town Center 2030.” The report includes suggestions from residents during a week of brainstorming in October 2005 such as:
» Up to 5,500 residential units.
» 5.2 million square feet of office space.
» 1.3 million square feet of retail.
This development in the urban center would be spread throughout 493 acres of Town Center in buildings up to 20 stories tall, according to the report. The large amount of proposed office space would be especially burdensome, Kulash said.
To reach ideal traffic, in which a driver stops for about one minute per traffic light, buildings in the urban center of Columbia should be between five to six stories tall, he said. However, he said it would be possible to support some of the proposed construction.
“Suffice it to say, you could have quite a bit of growth,” Kulash said.
Residents from the Downtown Focus Group, composed of residents who meet with the Department of Planning and Zoning to plan the development of downtown Columbia, say they are disappointed the study has not been completed. Many residents who sit on the focus group were part of the brainstorming sessions last year. The group has been requesting the study since January, and the plan was not presented as expected in May.
