For video coverage of the event, click here.
More than a dozen residents, elected officials and students rallied outside the State Highway Administration’s district headquarters in Greenbelt yesterday morning to protest the department’s decision to defer Route 1 redevelopment funding.
Officials have lobbied on behalf of the project for years, claiming it could improve the road’s safety, make the university more appealing and revitalize the downtown retail currently dominated by chain restaurants. Though officials thought the money was finally secured last year, it was yanked in October.
A weak economy coupled with lower-than-expected tax revenue prompted the state to trim its budget and defer $1.1 billion in transportation projects, including about $7 million in engineering and design funding for upgrades to the stretch of Route 1 between College Avenue and University Boulevard.
Protesters stood outside the highway administration building yesterday, holding a banner that read “Rebuild Route 1 Now” and chanting as people arrived at a State Highway Administration meeting. Public officials, including Mayor Stephen Brayman, state Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s) and Student Government Association president Jonathan Sachs, made short speeches in support of the Route 1 funding, stressing the importance of the project with regard to safety and traffic flow.
“More than 10 people have died on Route 1 in the past decade,” said Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D – Anne Arundel and Prince George’s), who hosted a similar protest in 2005. “It makes no sense to keep building with no infrastructure.”
Sachs related the proposed Route 1 improvements to the university’s rank among other colleges in the country. Officials have said the Route 1 corridor is an eyesore compared with the campus’s picturesque, brick-and-pillars image and has the potential to deter prospective students from attending the university.
“The best universities in America have great cities around them,” Sachs said. “Rebuilding Route 1 will improve our ability to be counted in that top tier.”
College Park resident Brian Choper, 43, said the improvements would affect the community’s quality of life as a whole. With about seven empty storefronts downtown and forthcoming competition with development projects such as East Campus, city officials have been looking to revitalize College Park and bring in a wider variety of retail.
“If we want to attract good businesses, we need a smooth traffic flow to be able to get them,” Choper said. “Congestion is a safety issue too, and the suicide lane. We need to fix that before businesses will come.”
State Secretary of Transportation John Porcari addressed the protesters briefly before entering the building, explaining that he appreciated the support for the upgrades but didn’t think he could restore the funding this year.
“Unlike our federal partners, we can’t print money,” Porcari said. “We have to work within our means.”
At the meeting, proponents of the Route 1 improvements presented their case, but met a similar response to Porcari’s, Peña-Melnyk said.
“We’ll see what happens,” she said. “And we’re going to keep on fighting, because the people want it funded.”
Del. Barbara Frush (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s) said safety is the primary reason behind the push for upgrades.
“Route 1 is a very unsafe road right now,” Frush said. “My husband and I owned a store on Route 1 20 years ago, and we watched accident after accident, both pedestrian and motor vehicle.”
Only three students attended the protest, including SGA Environmental Affairs Liaison Davey Rogner. He said Route 1 should be a priority for the highway administration because “it’s sustainable growth in an already existing community.”
Peña-Melnyk said the improvements have unanimous support in the community and College Park has waited long enough to see the improvement come to fruition.
“We have waited more than 40 years,” Peña-Melnyk said. “The time [to upgrade the road] is now.”
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