A public forum on Traffic, Development and the Future of the Annapolis Neck Peninsula will be held at Key Auditorium, St. John’s College, Tuesday, June 3, at 7:00PM.
Sponsored by the Annapolis Neck Peninsula Federation and the Anne Arundel Sierra Club, the event is spurred by several recent massive, traffic gridlocks that crippled the Annapolis peninsula even while, at this time, major residential and retail developments are being proposed.
Experts will describe the challenges drivers face on Forest Drive, the Annapolis peninsula's main arterial, and review proposed solutions. They will explain what it takes to design an efficient, safe road.
Other issues will also be discussed, especially school capacity and environmental concerns. There are several large developments proposed that will feed more traffic onto Forest Drive.
Anastasia Hopkinson, Board Member of the Annapolis Neck Peninsula Federation, expressed her concern that "there's a critical need for coordination between the city, county and even the state on how such an increase in housing and retail stores will affect our roads. We need careful planning for growth. If our governments don't get it right before all this development, the cost of corrections later will be very high.
Meanwhile, traffic jams will only get worse." She added: "Someday, our tax dollars will be demanded to pay for all this if we don't plan better. We citizens must speak up, now! Or, live with it and regret what could have been."
"We’ve invited both Annapolis Mayor Mike Pantelides and Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Newman to attend because they make critical decisions on the use of land, roads and schools,” she said. “Maybe they've got some solutions to share with us."
David Prosten, chair of the Anne Arundel Sierra Club, said, "The city's processes to protect the environment have been convoluted or even non-existent, always out of sync with the spirit of the state regulations to protect lands near the Chesapeake Bay. If the city has as little regard for traffic congestion and school overcrowding as it does for our forests and tributaries, then we’re in for even more difficult times ahead.”
A public discussion will follow the experts' presentations. The public is invited to this meeting. Free parking is available at the city’s nearby Bladen Street garage. Key Auditorium has a 600-person capacity.