Testimony: Maintenance and Repair for Sidewalks and Bike Trails

WABA supports repealing the requirement that a political subdivision maintain and repair sidewalks and bicycle pathways constructed, in accordance with Maryland statutes, along Maryland state highways.

You can view this document in PDF form here.

HB 389: State Highways - Sidewalks and Bicycle Pathways - Maintenance and Repair

House Appropriations Committee
Washington Area Bicyclist Association – FAVORABLE

February 28, 2024

Chair Barnes and Committee Members,

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) and the undersigned organizations support HB 389, repealing the requirement that a political subdivision maintain and repair sidewalks and bicycle pathways constructed, in accordance with Maryland statutes, along Maryland state highways.

This bill is very straight-foward. It simply strikes two sentences from State Code’s Transportation Article, which currently unnecessarily involves local jurisdictions in what would otherwise be a state data- and policy-driven decision. Current code is an impediment to implementation of state roadway-safety policy. HB 389 will remove the impediment.

What is Maryland policy? The State Highway Administration adopted a Complete Streets policy over a decade ago and recommitted in March 2023 to implementing context guide design elements in all capital projects. The two approaches, Complete Streets and Context Driven, typically call for sidewalk and bike lane creation, consistent with a Safe System approach as promoted by the US Dept. of Transportation. But implementation is complicated by the maintenance issue that HB 389 would address.

State data makes clear the need for change. The General Assembly passed Maryland’s Vision Zero law in 2019. Maryland experienced 574 road deaths the next year, in 2020, including 129 pedestrians killed and 15 bicyclists. We experienced 601 road fatalities last year, in 2023, including 155 pedestrians and, again, 15 bicyclists. Maryland is not meeting our state’s Vision Zero commitment. We have made no progress.

HB 389 will remove an impediment to implementation of state roadway-safety policy by creating state-road maintenance flexibility.

The Maryland Dept. of Transportation’s 2050 Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan observes that “Complicating the maintenance issue, state law and policies restrict the State of Maryland from providing maintenance assistance . . . . Revisiting and updating the Maryland code to remove the maintenance responsibility from local jurisdictions was encouraged [during stakeholder engagement] to provide a more equitable responsibility of asset management.”

HB 389 will not impose a new tax or fee on Maryland residents and businesses. It will not disrupt the State Highway Administration’s existing maintenance agreements with local governments, nor will it affect the SHA’s ability to negotiate similar agreements going forward.

If the General Assembly enacts HB 389 and cross-filed SB 514, we will expect sidewalk and bikeway creation progress. Three Prince George’s County examples are the Greenbelt East Trail on MD 193, Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Trail extension on MD 703, and Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail extension along US 1 from Hyattsville to the Washington DC border.

This testimony singles out Prince George’s County because Prince George’s County experienced 129 road deaths in 2023 – by far the worst in the state – including 39 pedestrian and three bicyclist deaths. Statewide, 155 pedestrians and 15 bicyclists were killed on Maryland roads in 2023. Maryland’s state roads, in Prince George’s County and throughout the state, are our most dangerous roads, with most traffic lanes and the highest traffic speeds and unsafe pedestrian crossings.

By enacting SB 514/HB 389, the General Assembly will advance Maryland toward meeting our Vision Zero commitment – Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld last year pledged “unwavering dedication” – to eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries on Maryland roadways by 2030.

The undersigned organizations urge a Favorable HB 389 committee report and General Assembly enactment.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this legislation.

Supported by:

Bicycle Advocates For Annapolis And Anne Arundel County (BikeAAA)

Bike Howard County (Bike HoCo)

Bike Maryland

Coalition for Smarter Growth

East Coast Greenway Alliance

Frederick Bicycle Coalition

Friends of the Greenbelt East Trail

Washington Area Bicyclist Association

Seth Grimes, WABA Maryland organizer

seth.grimes@waba.org

More about Maryland Legislation

WABA develops and advocates for state legislation to make bicycling in Maryland safer and more accessible and for state funding to expand Maryland’s bicycle network, working directly with legislators and Maryland Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) leadership and as part of the Bike Maryland coalition. We also work on broader road-safety, transit, and environmental legislation and funding, typically as part of larger statewide coalitions. The annual Maryland legislative session runs from January to April, but our work developing legislation starts the preceding summer.

We’re thrilled that several bills we worked on or supported were enacted in 2024, directing an MDOT Vision Zero Coordinator and public review process; the Better Bus Service Act, allowing bus-lane enforcement cameras (with bikes allowed); authorizing stop-sign cameras near schools in Prince George's County; and the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Memorial Act, addressing penalties for hitting a cyclist in a bike lane.

Our 2024 advocacy included unsuccessful efforts that we will likely pursue in future years. (It often takes years to pass a bill. ) These include a Great Maryland Trails Act, an E-bike Rebate and Voucher Program bill, and a bill addressing maintenance responsibility for sidewalks and bike paths along state roads. Another topic on our list for 2025 is contributory negligence, a prejudicial statute that says that if a crash victim is even only 1% at fault, then they are liable and may not recover (full) costs and damages from the party largely at fault.

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.