The City of Annapolis received a $224,000 Kim Lamphier Bikeways Network Program Grant from the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) to continue work on a bike path that will connect Downtown to Quiet Waters Park. The Bay Ridge Avenue Bikeway Path previously received grant funding in 2022 to conduct a feasibility study of the route. The newest grant will allow City planners to continue the work by moving into the design phase.
The path, as studied, begins at the Spa Creek Bridge on 6th Street in Eastport, continues along Chesapeake Avenue to Bay Ridge Avenue, and terminates at the entrance to Anne Arundel County’s Quiet Waters Park, just off Hillsmere Drive. The corridor connects many important destinations including schools, parks, shopping, restaurants, important services, and numerous neighborhoods. Despite issues of safety, the route is already well-used by bicyclists and pedestrians.
“If we want people to be comfortable getting out of their cars and being less reliant on fossil fuels, we’ve got to provide ways to do that safely,” said Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley. “I applaud our Planning and Zoning team for pursuing these grants and working to connect existing bicycle and pedestrian paths one to another.”
In 2011, the City of Annapolis officially adopted the Bicycle Master Plan, a guiding document that set forth priorities to make the City more bikeable. One of the focus areas named in the plan is to connect existing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Often, existing bicycle infrastructure terminates at unsafe locations, leaving pedestrians and cyclists entering the roadway to make connections.
“Across the country, cities are working to make travel for pedestrians and for those using bicycles, scooters, and e-bikes safer and thereby making their communities more accessible and livable,” said Chris Jakubiak, Director of the Annapolis Department of Planning and Zoning. “Each year Annapolis makes a little more progress toward these goals and these state and federal grants go a long way toward helping us afford these big infrastructure projects.”
The full cost of the Bay Ridge Avenue Bikeway will be determined as the design evolves. The feasibility study was prepared at no cost to the City by an $80,000 technical services grant from the Baltimore Metropolitan Council’s new Transportation and Land Use Connections (TLC) Program. As part of this grant program, the City submitted the project and was awarded with technical services for the feasibility study provided by Toole Design, a leading national consultant on bike and pedestrian mobility planning.
The next phase of design funded by the new $224K grant from MDOT will take approximately eight months and move the project to 30 percent design completion. As this work is underway, the City will continue to identify sources of funding for subsequent phases of design and ultimately, construction. The project is expected to take several years to complete due to challenging roadway conditions including limited right-of-way, utilities, and complicated intersections. When complete, the bikeway will include more dedicated space for safer biking and walking, improved signage, pavement markings, drainage, plantings, and other amenities.
For more on the Kim Lamphier Bikeways Network program, visit: https://www.mdot.maryland.gov/tso/pages/Index.aspx?PageId=28.
