Surprise! Route 1 Faces Funding Problems

Though a total overhaul of Route 1 may still be years away, steps are being taken to mitigate at least some of the danger associated with College Park's main thoroughfare. 

Representatives from the Maryland State Highway Administration updated attendees of Thursday night's North College Park Citizens Association meeting on the projects currently underway, namely, adding audible pedestrian signals to some of the area's intersections.

Route 1 at Greenbelt Road is currently in the process of getting a new pedestrian walk with audible signal, as well as a double right turn lane from the westbound leg of Greenbelt Road onto northbound Route 1, said Felicia Murphy, the administration's assistant district engineer for traffic.

Though similar projects along Edgewood Road, Cherry Hill Road, and Hollywood Road have been approved, installation has been stalled due to either lack of funding or vague plans on the part of private developers responsible for their implementation.  Installation of the audible pedestrian signal at the south and west legs of the Hollywood Road intersection, for example, is in the hands of a developer, Murphy said, adding that the highway administration has no way of knowing when installation will commence.

That the highway administration itself was unaware for the plans for the road struck some residents as odd.

"I'm just surprised the state highway administration is so laissez faire about that," said Mark Shroder, the president of the NCPCA. "I mean, it's your road."

Other residents expressed concern at the fact that existing signals are not currently functioning. Donna Weene pointed out that the pedestrian signal at Edgewood Road is out of service, meaning drivers are making left hand turns without regard for pedestrians.

"There is no safe time to cross that road," she said. "It's a very, very bad intersection."

Peter Campanides,  another representative from the State Highway Administration present at the meeting, said a project was lined up to build a concrete island to enable pedestrians to cross in two stages.

When Shroder asked when it was expected to be built, Campanides said it faced the same difficulty as so many of the other planned development projects.

"There's no funding for it," he said.