Druid Park Lake Drive to get safety redesign with $6M in federal funding - Baltimore Fishbowl

An infusion of $6 million in federal funding will help redesign a roadway that for decades has impeded West Baltimore communities from safely accessing Druid Hill Park, members of Maryland’s congressional delegation announced Wednesday.

U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin, and U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume (all D-Md.) announced a total of over $11 million to reconnect communities across Maryland, including the portion focused on West Baltimore. The money was secured through the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The $6 million in federal funding will support the redesign of Druid Park Lake Drive to reconnect West Baltimore communities that were cut off from Druid Hill Park after the roadway was widened over 60 years ago. Planning will include evaluation of safety and accessibility enhancements for all road users in addition to eyeing ways to highlight the history of the Park, which is the third oldest public park in the nation.

Despite strong community opposition, Druid Park Lake Drive was widened between 1948 and 1963 from a two-lane residential street to the highway-sized roadway it is now, with limited crossings that cut off local communities to the park. Since then, residents of the Auchentoroly Terrace, Reservoir Hill, Penn North, and Woodbrook neighborhoods have struggled to access the park.

The redesign will include traffic-calming measures; increases to the tree canopy; and safety-oriented design elements for cyclists, pedestrians, and people using mobility devices. The planning will also “embrace and reclaim the historic relevance of the area while maintaining an aesthetically pleasing boulevard enhancement,” reads the press release.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded the funding through the Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) Grant Programs, created by the lawmakers through the Inflation Reduction Act. They wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in support of Baltimore City’s grant application for the funding back in November 2023.

“Ever since Druid Park Lake Drive was widened decades ago – against the wishes of local communities – the roadway stood as a barrier between the historic Druid Hill Park and nearby neighborhoods,” Van Hollen said in a statement. “Through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we secured funding to confront and correct harmful infrastructure decisions of the past – like this one. With this federal investment, Baltimore City can begin to right this wrong, improving safety along the road while restoring more local access to the treasured Druid Hill Park.”

“Druid Hill Park is a long-standing center for recreation and open space in Baltimore, but for too long, the historically Black communities living right next door have been cut off from this signature park by an imposing roadway that favors high-speed traffic over local residents,” Cardin said in a statement. “This federal funding will support the planning needed to restore connectivity and equitable access to Baltimore’s community parks, and it is part of the Biden Administration’s larger effort to address the disenfranchisement and systemic isolation of Black communities resulting from past infrastructure decisions and projects.”

“The $6 million-dollar Reconnecting Communities grant will return power to the people impacted by prior and bad transportation decisions that have split communities in half,” Mfume said in a statement. “We will see an improved and unified Druid Park Lake Drive as a result of this federal money.”

Baltimore City Mayor Brandon M. Scott expressed gratitude for the project’s funding.

“I want to thank Senator Van Hollen, Senator Cardin, and Congressman Mfume for continuing to champion transportation projects in Baltimore City,” Scott said in a statement. “In order to overcome the purposeful, historic disinvestment in infrastructure in Baltimore City, it takes the coordinated efforts of leaders at the local, state, and federal level as well as engagement with our community stakeholders. As the third-oldest public park in the nation, the reshaping of Baltimore’s Druid Hill to make it more accessible, open, and welcoming to every Baltimorean is well-deserved and long-overdue. Baltimore City is on the precipice of a renaissance and it is funding like this that further catalyzes that momentum.”