A nearly 14-year-old plan to rebuild Route 1 may receive its first promise of state funding next week — a project which officials said will improve campus accessibility and revitalize downtown.

Since 1998, city and state officials have been fighting to repave the battered road. On July 20, The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board will review whether $8 to $9 million of federal money can be reprogrammed to fund the first phase of the engineering stage of the Route 1 overhaul — a project which will eventually total up to $100 to $120 million.

“For so many years, we’ve been asking the state for funds and finally the university, the city council, the [state’s] 21st district are on board,” said state Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s).

In 2007, a host of state and local officials labeled the project a ‘top-priority’ in Gov. Martin O’Malley’s revenue package and transportation budget. Route 1 overhaul advocators include state Senator Jim Rosapepe (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s), District 3 County Councilman Eric Olson, Peña-Melnyk and Mayor Andy Fellows.

Yet, the economic recession and competition for funding with other state transportation projects forced the project to be left by the wayside. But this year, state legislators found money in the federal budget that they hope will help repave the road that university President Wallace Loh recently dubbed an “eyesore.”

“It’s not a very attractive road. It’s not a very safe road,” Rosapepe said. “This is absolutely a key part of trying to make College Park the kind of college town we’d all like it to be.”

If ample funding is allotted, the construction will start with the section of Route 1 running from downtown to Route 193. Eventually, the entire stretch through the city will be rebuilt.

But the process to secure funding is just beginning.

“This is gonna be a fight that’s gonna go on for a number of years,” Rosapepe said of obtaining funding for the rest of the project. “This is a breakthrough … but we’re at the beginning of the road.”

lurye at umdbk dot com