 | Maryland Integrating Transportation & Smart Growth (MINTS)
MarylandAbstractMaryland proposes to use integrated Smart Growth and transportation planning strategies to: maintain and enhance existing communities and contribute to their quality of life and economic vitality; demonstrate how investments in transportation strategies can encourage well planned growth where it is desired and discourage new development where it is inconsistent with Smart Growth objectives; and use sound growth management to facilitate community conservation, preservation of infrastructure capacity, and "smart" transportation strategies. [Note: strategies may be transportation projects (infrastructure, operational, or management strategies), land use planning and management initiatives, or other initiatives to address transportation and land use issues identified by the community(ies).] Consistent with Maryland's two pronged Smart Growth initiatives to conserve neighborhoods and preserve our rural legacy, this MINTS proposal will be carried out in locations representing two distinct growth-management settings. The characteristics of the potential areas are described in the Appendix to this application. One setting is an urban community where there are challenges to improve the efficiency of the existing transportation system, to conserve the community, and to prompt re-development and infill development. The other growth- management setting is where exurban and suburban sprawling development patterns threaten rural resource- protection goals and generate highway and other infrastructure needs, as well as environmental and transportation system efficiency issues. Six potential pilot project areas have been identified, of which 2-3 will be implemented. In the future, the Maryland Office of Planning (OP) and the partners will be able to use techniques developed for these pilot projects statewide for analysis of similar land-use and transportation issues and proposed alternatives. Previous Page
Last updated December 8, 2000 |
