Call on the Prince George’s County Council to Fund Safe Biking

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks has released her proposed FY25 county budget, for the fiscal year (FY) starting July 1. A Budget in Brief document provides a higher-level look at the proposed Operating and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budgets including spending on bicycling and road-safety projects and programs.

We’re arranging several ways to learn about and take action around the county budget and to boost Prince George’s County bicycling and road safety:

• Learn about the FY25 budget via a Zoom briefing, Thursday, April 25 at 7:30 pm. Click here to register. We’ll be joined by Councilmember Eric Olson, who chairs the council’s transportation committee.
• Join fellow advocates and WABA for meetings with key council members, in late April and early May. Please respond via this form to let us know if you’d (maybe) like to join us and to share your advocacy interests.
• Attend WABA’s first (free!) Prince George’s County Bike Summit, Saturday afternoon, May 18 in Suitland. Visit waba.org/PGCSummit2024 for more information and to register. The summit is designed for and with the PGC bicycling community. Please join us.

More on the FY2025 budget:

We plan to meet in late April or early May with Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment (TIEE) Committee Chair Eric Olson and, if you’re a resident of the district represented by another TIEE member, with Councilmember Thomas Dernoga (District 1 only), Wanika Fisher (District 2 only), Edward Burroughs (District 8 only), or Sydney Harrison (District 9 only).

The committee will make transportation spending and capital-investment recommendations to the full council. We will urge them to invest in safer biking and walking in Prince George’s County. The proposed budget includes big ticket items such as:

• $157.9 million for roadway improvements to enhance pedestrian safety in high-injury locations
• $29.8 million for the Central Avenue Connector Trail

And there are more modest expenditures including Bikeshare expansion – listed as a Climate Action Plan investment – and:

• $67,000 in Vision Zero funding within the Dept. of Public Works and Transportation (DPW&T) budget
• $500,000 in Green Street Improvements to continue design utilizing the “complete street concept” and including pedestrian and bicyclist safety improvements

There are many more items of course, and we may request addition of funding for new initiatives such as creation and funding of an e-bike purchase rebate/voucher program, heavily targeted to low- and moderate-income residents, similar to Washington DC’s, enacted last year.

So please register to join us for the April 25, 7:30 pm Zoom briefing on the county’s proposed FY25 budgets and respond via this form to let us know if you’d (maybe) like to join us for mid-April meetings with council members.

And again, please register for WABA’s Prince George’s County Bike Summit, 2 pm-5 pm on Saturday afternoon, May 18 in Suitland. The summit is free. Register at waba.org/PGCSummit2024.