Letter: Prince George’s County transportation priorities

WABA submitted comments on priorities for Prince George's County's FY25 budget

You can view this document in PDF form here.

Angela Alsobrooks, Prince George’s County Executive

Jolene Ivey, Chair, Prince George’s County Council

Michael Johnson, Director, Prince George’s Dept. of Public Works and Transportation

September 27, 2024

Re: Prince George’s County MDOT Transportation Priorities

County Executive Alsobrooks, Council Chair Ivey, Director Johnson,

Each year, the Maryland Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) solicits Prince George’s County priorities related to the MDOT Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP). This year, MDOT will present the Draft FY 25 – FY 30 CTP in Prince George’s County, as part of the series of annual County tour meetings, on October 24.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association offers five points that we ask Prince George's County to incorporate in communicating the County’s transportation priorities to MDOT.

Please ask for inclusion of two projects in the State CTP:

1) The Greenbelt East Trail. CTP inclusion would facilitate allocation/award of design and engineering funding based on MDOT SHA's favorable feasibility study, and then of construction funding.

The Greenbelt East Trail would provide a much-needed transportation alternative in an overbuilt road corridor that is in sore need of traffic-separated biking and walking facilities. It would link residential, commercial, and employment centers including NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and fill a major gap between trail networks, with a quick(er) build option that could become a precedent for other projects.

2) The Fort Lincoln-Anacostia Riverwalk Trail connector. Washington DC recently won a $25 million RAISE grant for Fort Lincoln-neighborhood bikeways and a new pedestrian-bicyclist bridge over the Anacostia River, paralleling Route 50. The Transportation Planning Board approved $300,000 in Carbon Reduction Program funds ($75,000 state match) for MDOT State Highway Administration design & engineering on the Maryland side, and the Transportation Planning Board added the project to the regional Transportation Improvement Program. MDOT CTP inclusion will facilitate future design and construction funding for this significant trails-network connectivity project and will not obligate any Prince George’s County spending.

Please prioritize restoration of funding for two CTP items and refocus of a third:

3) Reinstate and increase the funding for the Kim Lamphier Bikeways Network Program (page TSO-3).

Per the CTP, “The program helps implement MDOT's Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan by filling priority missing links in the statewide bicycling network, and improving connections to transit, work, schools, shopping, and other destinations. By creating a more integrated and safe network of bicycle facilities, the program also helps advance the Maryland Transportation Plan’s goals of economic development and environmental stewardship, while strengthening the health and quality of life for local communities.”

However MDOT’s draft FY25-FY30 CTP allocates only $15,953,631 to the program, a $6.5 million six-year reduction to already modest funding. MDOT’s recommended amount averages less than $2.5 million per year, statewide. Nominally this means only $384 thousand per year for Prince George’s projects. Yet the demand for capital grants for bike infrastructure is huge. Maryland jurisdictions won approximately $40 million in federal Safe Streets for All program grants in the program’s first two years. There is high demand.

We recommend that Prince George’s County prioritize an increase in annual Lamphier Program funding to $6.5 million, equating to $1 million in annual funding for Prince George’s projects. That amount is just over $1 per year for each Prince George’s County resident, advancing “goals of economic development and environmental stewardship, while strengthening the health and quality of life for local communities.”

4) Restore funding for the Complete Streets Program (page SHA-SW-6).

The draft CTP states, “Safety is a primary criterion in all of the projects and grants MDOT pursues, including implementation of the new Complete Streets Policy, the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, and the Strategic Highway Safety Plan.” In the draft CTP, this commitment takes the form of a Complete Streets Program that “will invest in prioritized corridors to reduce deaths and serious injuries for vulnerable users while also supporting the statewide safety, equity, and mode-shift goals.” Yet MDOT has decreased funding by $10.5 million from the FY24-FY29 CTP figure, to $86.5 million, an 11% reduction.

This funding reduction will hinder completion of the two Cohort 1 projects in Prince George’s County, a) MD 650 [New Hampshire Avenue] from MD 193 [University Blvd.] to Montgomery County line and b) MD 410 [East-West Highway] from MD 500 [Queens Chapel Road] to MD 212 [Riggs Road]. Prince George’s County should prioritize restoration of full Complete Streets Program FY25-FY30 CTP funding.

5) Maintain zero construction funding for "I-495/I-95 Capital Beltway - Interchange upgrades at Medical Center Dr (formerly Arena Dr)" (page SHA-PG-9).

Construction funds for this project were eliminated in the FY 2024-FY 2029 CTP. If the project is resumed at a future time, Prince George’s County should press MDOT to fully reconsider the interchange design in order to improve, rather than degrade, pedestrian and bicyclist access, with vehicular traffic managed appropriately for a transit-oriented corridor.

Thank you for your consideration of these Prince George’s County transportation-priority suggestions.

Sincerely,

Seth Grimes

Washington Area Bicyclist Association

seth.grimes@waba.org

Copy:

Nicole Williams, Chairwoman, Prince George’s County House Delegation

Michael A. Jackson, Chair, Prince George's County Senate Delegation

Prince George’s County Council Members

Floyd Holt, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Prince George’s County

More about Prince George's County Budget

Prince George's County's budgeting process, both for its annual budget and its 6-year capital budget, takes place in the spring. WABA works with grassroots advocates and partner organizations to build support on the County Council for funding individual projects and to ensure that the Department of Public Works and Transportation and the Parks Department have the resources required to grow and maintain the County's active transportation network.

Current priorities include expanding Capital Bikeshare in the county, funding trail development to expand the Capital Trails Network, additional design, engineering, and grant-writing staff at DPWT, and an e-bike purchase rebate program.

More about Laws & Policy

WABA works with grassroots advocates at the local, county and state level to support laws and policies that make it easier and safer to walk, bike, and take transit. And we work to changes ones that make biking less safe, make it harder to build bike infrastructure, or that deprioritize the safety and convenience of people walking, biking, or taking transit.

In practice that means advocating for robust and transformative Vision Zero programs, enforceable Complete Streets policies, and funding for new infrastructure that supports biking, walking and transit.

Other regional legislative priorities include:

Reforming Contributory Negligence (passed in DC, in the works in Maryland and Virginia).
Getting rid of the Level of Service engineering standards in transportation decision-making.
Funding E-bike purchase rebates.

More about Advocacy

WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.

We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.