The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB) voted to adopt the Resilience 2050 long-range transportation plan, 2024-2027 Transportation Improvement Program and associated Air Quality Conformity Determination on July 25. The plans equal an anticipated $74 billion investment in the Baltimore region’s transportation system.
Todd Lang, director of transportation for the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, said the plan represents progress for the region.
“It’s an important step to get the plan in place, so we can allow for some of these major projects to move forward,” Lang said. “We’d like to thank the members of the public who have shown up today and throughout the planning process.”
In the coming years, the region’s transportation system – including roads and bridges, transit, sidewalks, bicycle and shared-use paths – will face factors such as increased demand, changing user needs and climate impacts. The investments in the BRTB’s long- and short-range plans lay the groundwork to meet these challenges, continue to improve mobility and better serve the transportation needs of communities across the region.
The BRTB released drafts of the plans to the public on May 17 and sought comments through June 20. This comment period followed nearly two years of drafting and development, including public comment periods on goals and strategies for Resilience 2050, as well as on a series of white papers with more detail on planning areas. The BRTB hosted one virtual and seven in-person open house meetings in May and June to discuss the plans in more detail with any interested parties. The BRTB ultimately received more than 100 comments from individuals and groups.
The BRTB notes the comments largely include positive sentiment toward investments in transit, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, as well as negative sentiment toward spending on roadway expansion. A few members of the public joined the meeting and called for the BRTB to delay voting in order to rework the plans, shifting investments from roadway to transit facilities. However, the BRTB voted unanimously to adopt the plans, noting the documents can be amended and will be updated in the coming years.
Director of the Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation D’Andrea Walker and representative for Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, BRTB chair, acknowledged the frustrations expressed in several public comments and stressed the BRTB hears those concerns.
“But we also don’t want to slow down the process of implementing long-term projects we’ve been waiting for,” Walker said. “We have a new administration in Annapolis, and we have a new secretary at MDOT. We have the ability to move in a new direction as related to transit.”
Bruce Gartner, Howard County Office of Transportation administrator and representative for Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, BRTB vice chair, also noted that changes in state leadership create new opportunities to advocate for increased transit investments in the region.
“These things take time to change,” Gartner said. “The comments are not in vain – they help set us up for continued momentum and action.”
Gartner said public comments inform future planning efforts and can help the BRTB continue to adjust to the evolving needs and priorities of communities in the region.
In drafting Resilience 2050, the BRTB made several adjustments based in part on public feedback, including additional scoring criteria boosting transit candidate projects. Notably, Resilience 2050 includes twice as much transit investment as the BRTB’s previous long-range transportation plan, including funding for an east-west transit corridor in Baltimore City, bus rapid transit on U.S. 29 in Howard County and 17 transportation hubs around the region.
The adopted plans will now be shared for review with federal agencies, including the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration and Environmental Protection Agency. Meanwhile, progress continues on transportation projects around the region that appeared in the BRTB’s previous long- and short-range plans.
At the July 25 meeting, planners from the Howard County Office of Transportation shared more details on the development of a Complete Streets policy supporting improved mobility for users of all modes.
