The College Park public works department is installing new pedestrian and bike safety measures on Knox and Hartwick Roads after the city council approved the project in early August.
Steve Halpern, College Park’s city engineer, and Jacob Vassalotti, the city’s GIS coordinator, presented proposed safety enhancements at an Aug. 7 council meeting after city staff conducted a traffic study in the area, according to city documents.
Student leaders in the University of Maryland’s Student Government Association and Residence Hall Association have highlighted safety concerns along Knox and Hartwick Roads to the city council in recent months, the documents said.
Many proposed improvements have been installed on Hartwick Road, including new crosswalks, more pedestrian and parking signage and enhanced yellow curb striping, Ryna Quiñones, the city’s communications and events manager, said in a statement to The Diamondback.
Two parking spaces near Knox Road and the Aspen Heights apartment complex were removed because they were within 20 feet of a crosswalk and blocked drivers’ view of pedestrians, according to Quiñones.
These improvements were part of an effort to increase visibility for crosswalks and areas with prohibited parking, the statement said.
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Junior computer science major Akash Balenalli, RHA’s transportation coordinator, said last year’s annual SGA fall safety walk prompted him to increase efforts for pedestrian safety improvements in downtown College Park.
Balenalli said he reached out to the city’s GIS coordinator and scheduled an in-depth walkthrough with other RHA transportation committee members. The walkthrough found areas on Knox Road that required safety improvements,he said.
A College Park student liaison also contacted city staff in March with a safety concern about a lack of crosswalks on part of Hartwick Road, according to city records.
RHA and SGA’s concerns prompted the city council to approve a traffic study for the roads, which city staff completed this summer, city documents said.
City staff plan to address the unresolved recommendations with a thorough striping and signage plan for Hartwick and Knox Roads that is slated to be completed by mid-October, according to Quinoñes.
These include extending the westbound bike lane on Knox Road, adjusting parking spaces and increasing yellow striping on roadway areas where parking is prohibited, Quiñones’s statement said.
District 3 council member Stuart Adams, said these installments are just a first step in making the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
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“We need to make sure that as we encourage people to bike and scooter and walk to their destinations, that we are actually providing them reasonable accommodations to make that happen,” Adams said.
Moving forward, Adams hopes the city will look into adding hardened curb extensions and flexible posts to painted bike lanes.
Balenalli said he was excited when the city approved the new safety measures after the traffic study, but hopes the city will further increase pedestrian and micromobility safety.
“Most of the traffic is pedestrians and cyclists and micromobility users, so they need to be treated as a priority, which I think is something that the city hasn’t really done systematically,” Balenalli said. “We just need to be doing more.”
Shaina Fein, a senior psychology and human development major who lives in College Park Towers along Hartwick Road, said she felt the new safety installments were worthwhile.
Fein emphasized that walking around the area at night with cars can be “nerve-wracking” as drivers do not always pay attention.
“Certain intersections need more crosswalks in general because there’s so much traffic with students between apartment buildings,” Fein said.
To further increase pedestrian safety, Fein said she would like to see the city install more four-way stop signs on roads near the apartments.
