Gov. Bob Ehrlich pledged $20 million for development in Prince George’s County Thursday – a portion of which will go toward city safety improvements and policing at College Park Metro Station where eight students were robbed at gunpoint this semester.
The governor, along with Sen. John Giannetti, university administrators and city government officials attended the announcement at the Metro Station, where Ehrlich said the funding was partially in response to Student Government Association President Aaron Kraus voicing concerns about student safety on Kraus’s WMUC 88.1 FM radio show two weeks ago.
“Aaron made a point to me concerning issues of safety right where we’re standing,” Ehrlich said. “Today is about listening to state senators, mayors, residents and students.”
Specific improvements in College Park include intense lighting that will run from the downtown area down Guilford Road and parts of Calvert Road to the Metro station, increased Metro Transit Police presence at the station, pedestrian “refuge” medians at three locations on Route 1 in downtown College Park and a 260 space, $150,000 city parking garage.
“It’s the dirty little secret of College Park,” said Giannetti, who has pushed for the funding. “Residents don’t feel safe in this area. When you talk to the students and ask, ‘What are your concerns,’ they don’t say their grades. They say safety.”
University President Dan Mote said that the city improvements will help the university encourage students to take advantage of its location.
“It’s a major treat for our students,” Mote said. “It is indeed something that needs to be done. It’s outside the campus, but is of great concern to us.”
The pedestrian improvements, which will be completed over the summer, include three concrete islands for pedestrians along Route 1 between Pontiac Street and Lakeland Road, where the average daily traffic nears 50,000 vehicles, according to the State Highway Administration. This project also includes resurfacing portions of Route 1.
College Park Mayor Stephen Brayman said that one of the city council’s main concerns has become Route 1 safety with thousands of students and residents crossing it each day.
“All my colleagues have started looking at Route 1 as the number one killer in College Park,” he said, citing two incidents where he has either seen a pedestrian struck by a vehicle or come upon an accident after a pedestrian was hit.
The parking garage in downtown College Park, where the parking crunch has been the source of much debate, will be built on a plot of land behind the current city hall, said Becky Smith, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.
Giannetti said the funding is part of a long-term plan to make College Park more appealing.
“We’re trying to keep students safe and keep neighborhoods safe,” he said. “We want to change the philosophy of downtown College Park so people who visit want to stay, so people can say, ‘Hey, let’s go to College Park and go shopping.'”
