More than 100 people a year have died on Prince George’s County roads in each of the past five years. The county has long been the region’s leader in traffic deaths. Meanwhile, 43,000 people died on American roads in 2021, a 16-year-high.
The U.S. Department of Transportation calls it a crisis. A year ago, the department created the National Roadway Safety Strategy putting a renewed focus on safety and aiming to encourage responsible driving, safer roadway designs, safer vehicles, appropriate speed limits, and improved post-crash care. On Wednesday, officials sent out $800 million in grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to localities across the country, including in the D.C. region.
Prince George’s County is getting $21 million to fix seven of its most dangerous stretches of road. The one-mile segments have the greatest severity of bike and pedestrian crashes and are located within Equity Emphasis Areas. The projects will include reducing lane widths and street crossing distances, installing ADA-compliant curbs and high-visibility crosswalks, and new sidewalks and bike lanes. The roads addressed include Metzerott Road, Cool Spring/Adelphi Road, Adelphi Road, Belcrest Road, Sheriff Road, and Marlboro Pike. You can find full project descriptions here.
“This grant win allows us to right the wrongs of past roadway designs that make it easier for vehicular speeding and crashes to occur,” County Public Works & Transportation Deputy Director Oluseyi Olugbenle said on Twitter. “These funds prioritize investments in underserved communities and will help reduce the tragic trends we are seeing in the County.”
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Jordan Pascale over at DCist
