Downtown Columbia redevelopment may be grabbing headlines, but the action’s in Elkridge with its recent residential and commercial boom.

And the growth along with entire Route 1 corridor is far from over.

“That area saw a lot of activity last year,” said Department of Planning and Zoning Director Marsha McLaughlin, referring to the county’s Development Monitoring System Report, which details development from October 2005 to September 2006.

Of the 1,877 residential units built, 26 percent, or 488, were in Elkridge, according to the report.

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More units will be phased in during the next decade, based on planned projects for Elkridge. For example, the planned Elkridge Village Centre will account for 1,067 residential units and more than 320,000 square feet of commercial space.

With these residential developments has come an abundance of affordable housing. Seventy percent, or nearly 630, of the moderate-income housing units in the planning process were in Elkridge.

The trend of more affordable housing follows 2004 rezoning that prompted more mixed-used developments, which include residential, commercial and retail, and a 15 percent set-aside for moderate-income housing in Elkridge and along Route 1, McLaughlin said.

Because higher densities exist there, more affordable units can be built, she said.

Forty-four percent of approved commercial plans were in Elkridge, including nearly all manufacturing development.

As the new developments crop up, the county and the State Highway Administration have worked through ways to make Route 1 a pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare, said Harriet Levine, state project manager on the Route 1 corridor improvement.

Officials are considering consolidating entrances and exits for developments and using side streets to avoid traffic jams, Levine said.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com