The Anne Arundel County Council narrowly passed a watered-down version of a once-transformative transportation bill that was a hallmark of County Executive Steuart Pittman’s administration.

With a 4-3 vote Monday night, the legislation passed along party lines, with Democrats supporting it and Republicans opposed.

The bill updates a decades-old traffic analysis that developers must conduct before building in the county. If the test finds that surrounding roads can’t handle additional traffic, the developer must foot the bill to improve the infrastructure.

Pittman’s administration said the bill modernizes that test, in part, by considering where a development would be built.

As originally introduced, Pittman’s legislation would have similarly put builders on the hook for sidewalks, bike trails and public transit improvements needed to support their developments.

But his bill, the product of a five-year workgroup mostly made up of employees of his administration, caught the council off guard. The council had only 95 days — that’s the lifespan of a bill in the county — to workshop complicated legislation long in the making.

Council members and developers, concerned that the measure as originally crafted would jack up construction costs and thus housing prices, pushed back.

Faced with the prospect that his landmark legislation would not pass, Pittman, a Democrat in his final year in office, amended the bill so that walking and biking still take a back seat to cars and trucks when building in suburban Anne Arundel.

The county executive still described the legislation as transformative in a statement ahead of the vote.

“This legislation represents a fundamental change in the way that we support bicycle, pedestrian, and transit infrastructure,” Pittman said. “It replaces outdated, road-focused policies and requires new developments to invest in the improvements that our communities need. The result is less traffic on our roads, and safer, more connected communities.”

Councilman Nathan Volke, a Pasadena Republican, countered that he was “not sure if this bill actually does anything or if the administration is just looking for a feather in their cap.”

As originally introduced, the bill would have lumped an analysis of bicycle, pedestrian and public transit infrastructure into the same test for roads. That would have meant developers had to pay whatever it cost to improve sidewalks and bike trails.

Councilwoman Allison Pickard, a Glen Burnie Democrat who typically supports Pittman’s policies, was one of several council members who expressed concern about the legislation’s impact on housing costs.

Pickard said the original bill required developers to improve pedestrian traffic a mile in every direction, which would have added tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of individual residences — exacerbating the county’s affordable housing crisis.

Pittman ultimately walked back that provision.

Instead the Democrat updated a 2018 county law that requires developers to do a separate test to assess their proposed community’s impact on bicycle, pedestrian and public transit infrastructure. Under the 2018 law, improvements for such multimodal infrastructure were capped at $330 per housing unit.

The bill that passed Monday increased the cap to $425 per housing unit, which Pittman’s administration said simply accounted for inflation.

The legislation includes additional incentives for developers to build sidewalks and bike trails. If they improve such infrastructure more than is required, the county gives them a credit for 125% of that cost against fees that come later in the development process.

Still, the dilution of the legislation disappointed advocates for multimodal transportation who fought hard for the original bill.

“This bill ended up a long way from where it started. It’s a watered-down version,” Jon Korin, president of Bicycle Advocates For Annapolis And Anne Arundel County, told the council Monday night.

Korin participated on the five-year workgroup that created the bill. Despite his disappointment, he urged the council to pass it.

“I’d love to see unanimity here,” he said of the council’s forthcoming vote. “But I’ll take four or more.”