Bel Air town officials are thinking about reviving a plan to make improvements along two streets running through the Howard Park neighborhood just west of downtown.
A public meeting on what could be done along Thomas and George streets will be held Wednesday, Feb. 4, at Town Hall beginning at 6 p.m. Howard Park residents have been notified via mail and details about the potential project can be found on the town's website at http://www.belairmd.org/402/Thomas-Street-Project.
Town Planning Director Kevin Small said the latest proposal will be somewhat less ambitious than one proposed between 2008-10 that received a chilly reception from residents and was eventually scuttled in favor of concentrating on other revitalization projects.
During a town commissioners work session Tuesday, Small stressed the latest plan is only in the conceptional phase, but said it would fit in with other improvements in the neighborhood the past three years in and around Plumtree Park that included upgrading the park itself, the day lighting of Plumtree Run that had been relegated to an underground pipe for 50 years and rebuilding the culvert carrying the stream under George Street.
Conceding that Howard Park residents didn't perceive the last plan, billed as a Main Street to Harford Mall connection, in a favorable light, Small, who worked on that plan as a private consultant before he was hired by the town, said the new plan is "a revamped outlook," one that would be "less of a streetscape and more of a pedestrian, bicycle connection."
Whereas the previous plan was perceived as encouraging motorists to use Thomas Street through Howard Park as a main route from downtown to Harford Mall – which it has always been – Small said the new plan would discourage cut-through traffic by making the lanes in Thomas Street narrower between the park and Kelly Avenue and by adding more crosswalks at intersections.
By narrowing Thomas Street, he said, the sidewalk area on the south side would be widened into a path to accommodate bikes and pedestrians and trees would be planted between the path and the street.
The goal, he added, would be to connect the Ma & Pa Trail through the Kelly Fields complex with the intersection of Kelly Avenue and Thomas Street. That also had been a goal of the previous plan, to make it easier for walkers and bikers to get to the trail from downtown. Ultimately, however, any extension of the trail through Kelly Fields or the adjoining Heavenly Waters Park would have to be done in partnership with the county, which owns those properties.
He said the town would probably put some benches along the bike/pedestrian path, although more benches was a sticking point before for residents, who said they would only attract vagrants.
Improvements such as better landscaping, benches and bike racks could be made in the commercial blocks of Thomas Street between Bond and Williams streets, he said. Handicapped accessibility improvements would also be made at all intersections.
Another goal, Small explained, is to encourage motorists who drive through Howard Park to get from the mall area to downtown – avoiding more crowded Route 1 – to stay on George Street from Boulton Street, rather than turning on Kelly to go a block over to Thomas Street and then drive downtown from there.
Small said the plan for George Street should include more landscaping on the north side of the street and parking on the south side, in addition to the sidewalk and curb improvements.
Even though traffic traveling into town on George Street from Kelly Avenue would still have to turn at Archer Street and go over to Thomas, Small said having fewer vehicles using Thomas would still be an improvement from the current situation. The three-way intersection at Archer and Thomas streets would be widened to improve visibility from the stop sign on Archer.
Several commissioners said there are legitimate concerns about traffic speeding along Thomas Street, while Acting Police Chief Jack Meckley pointed out there was traffic backed up all along Boulton Street and Kelly Avenue during the days before Christmas, again caused by people using the Howard Park streets to avoid Route 1.
Small said there would be no median proposed in Thomas Street, which was in the previous plan, and existing driveways along both streets would not be adversely impacted.
"We do want to listen to folks who have property on both sides of the road," Small said.
Town Commissioner Edward Hopkins, who lives in Howard Park, said having a direct connection to the trail from downtown would benefit the neighborhood, as well as the entire town.
"I would really like to see the south side of Howard Park be able to rebound," he said, referring to an older section of the neighborhood in which many of the homes are rentals.
Small said it would take the better part of two years to design final plans and secure grant funding from the state to do the proposed upgrades. Any construction would not begin until 2017 at the earliest.