Type: Bicycle and Pedestrian Connectivity Plan
Scale: Area-wide
Status: Completed
In October 2017, Street Plans was hired by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) and Charles County to enhance bicycle and pedestrian connectivity within the Waldorf Urban Area, a census designated place with 68,000 residents. Primarily a commuter suburb for Washington DC, the Connect Waldorf study focused on enhancing the area’s existing pedestrian and cycling network between residential sub-divisions and civic/commercial destinations.
Street Plans began with a detailed analysis of the entire study area to determine the the most practical and feasible opportunities for improving non-motorized connectivity. The team surveyed the existing bicycle and walking network and found limited pedestrian infrastructure to support access between neighborhoods and local/regional destinations. That said, many shared use paths exist within subdivisions, providing a great opportunity to link local paths to larger system across Waldorf. After leading a public workshop to gather community input in April, 2018, Street Plans developed physical design and supportive policy recommendations for increased bicycle and pedestrian connectivity. The new plan proposed everything from altering land use and urban design regulations to encourage mixed-use, active and pedestrian-oriented frontages, to wide sidewalk standards, a network of protected bike lanes, shared use paths, and intersection treatments such as enhanced crosswalks, refuge islands, and new pedestrian signals.
To implement the recommendations, Connect Waldorf identifies 25 priority projects that were evaluated using Street Plans’ custom project priority matrix tool. If built, these 25 projects would results in a usable and safe network by 2030. This includes fast-tracking the redesign of Old Washington Road into a model Complete Streets project for Charles County, effectively setting the stage for more walkable, transit-oriented development in the heart of Waldorf that could be emulated countywide.