Officials with the Baltimore City Department of Transportation are now sharing a partial list of proposed repaving projects that will take place in the next year. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake put $10 million to resurface 200 miles of city streets in the fiscal 2014 budget. The City Council approved the budget in June.
Projects on the list include Hillen Road between Perring Parkway and Cold Spring Lane; West Belvedere between Pimlico Road and Northern Parkway; Hollins Ferry Road from the city-county line to Waterview Avenue and several blocks of 6th Street in Brooklyn, among others.
The department denied a request for a list of possible projects while the City Council worked on the budget; wanting to wait until final approval. Frank Murphy, deputy transportation director, said the department did not want to raise the hopes of residents. “We don’t want to raise expectations to say ‘hey, we’re going to redo these streets’ until we know we have the money to do it,” Murphy said.
The list, mostly containing small projects, was assembled by using something called the “Streets Sufficiency Survey” which looks at the condition of a street every two years. City residents have their own suggestions as to what streets need work. Joyce Coates of Park Heights said in May that the city should target Monroe Street, her main route to work in South Baltimore. Coates also suggested the city fix potholes on “streets that possibly have 30 percent or 50 percent more of potholes.” Murphy said that the Street Sufficiency Survey looks at potholes.
Del. Shawn Tarrant, who travels Roland Avenue often, said that street is in dire need of repair, calling it one of the worst streets in the city. Murphy said a streetscape project that will encompass Roland Avenue and a portion of Northern Parkway is being designed now.
Transportation officials said they will release a complete list of projects in 2014.