$6.98 million grant award will construct an extension of the BWI Trail spur, conduct safe routes to school studies and build bike lane separators
Annapolis, MD (October 16, 2023) County Executive Steuart Pittman announced today that the Anne Arundel County Office of Transportation secured $6.98 million from the Maryland Department of Transportation through the Transportation Alternatives (TA) and Kim Lamphier Bikeways Grant programs to construct an extension of the BWI Trail spur from Maple Ave to the Nursery Road Light Rail station, perform additional Safe Routes to School Accessibility Studies, and provide safe separators for protected bike lanes.
“A key element of our vision to make Anne Arundel County The Best Place - For All is to provide safe, equitable transportation options,” said County Executive Steuart Pittman. “Safe biking and walking alternatives are the best way to reduce traffic, protect our environment, improve health, and make the county more livable and affordable. We are especially pleased to extend this trail in North County.”
Of the $20.8 million available by the competitive TA grant program, the $6.4 million awarded to the county for the BWI Trail Spur extension is the largest grant award in the State this year, and the largest ever received by the County from the federally-funded TA program.
The BWI trail extension is identified in the County’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, Walk and Roll Anne Arundel! and will provide bicyclists and pedestrians off road access to transit in Anne Arundel County. The Safe Routes to School grant ($240,000) will fund accessibility studies that are a continuation of prior studies which make recommendations for making walking and bicycling safer for our children using active transportation to get to school.
“The Office of Transportation has excelled at securing state and federal grants which reduces the burden of project costs on our capital improvement program budget,” said Sam Snead, Director of the Office of Transportation. “This is yet another shining example of their continuing efforts to enhance the county’s bicycle and pedestrian trail footprint.”
The Bikeways grant ($340,000) will fund delineators to create “protected bicycle lanes” through the installation of physical hardware to separate bicycle lanes with a vertical barrier which offers the most protection for on road cyclists.
Jon Korin, president of Bicycle Advocates for Annapolis & Anne Arundel County (“BikeAAA”) and chair of the Anne Arundel County Bicycle Advisory Commission said, “We are working with our county, city, and state government partners to build our envisioned trail network that will connect people with the places they need and want to get to, without using a car. The recent Walk & Roll Anne Arundel Plan showed a majority of residents interested in biking and walking but concerned about safe routes. As we add more safe routes, walking and biking for both transportation and recreation will continue to increase.”
This funding is accelerating the County’s efforts in building a safe, multimodal network for active transportation as identified in Walk and Roll Anne Arundel!. All of these efforts will provide safer ways to get around the County in support of vulnerable road users and the County’s Vision Zero goals.