Pennsylvania Avenue Roadway Rehabilitation Project
About this Project
The Pennsylvania Avenue Roadway Improvements Project will include infrastructural upgrades for roadway pavement, ADA, pedestrian amenities, and other quality-of-life and streetscape improvements to a 1.25-mile stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue. This project in West Baltimore presents an important opportunity to create an environment that is favorable to non-drivers and motorists alike. BCDOT will work to promote a unified, distinctive neighborhood that encourages visitation to local spaces and businesses. This project follows upon prior and current efforts that received federal, state, and local support to improve nearby thoroughfares such as North Avenue and will set out a vision for reimagining West Baltimore as a safer place to live, work, and travel. Other such efforts have included the North Avenue Rising Project and the ongoing West North Avenue Pedestrian Safety Improvements Project.
Project Goals
The project will make this roadway more easily traversable and efficient for those driving, walking, or using MTA buses or other modes to travel between the Penn-North neighborhood and Downtown Baltimore. Designs underway include upgrades to the roadway, sidewalks, intersections, and other elements that residents, business owners, neighborhood associations, and other stakeholders have long advocated for.
Among the goals of this work are to:
Create a cohesive and visually pleasing urban environment – Improve visibility with upgraded street lighting as needed, expand tree pits and add new landscaping, and replace degraded and damaged sidewalks, curbs, and other pedestrian elements.
Improve ADA accessibility – Ensure compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by assessing infrastructure along Pennsylvania Avenue and replacing non-compliant curb ramps, pavement markings, and sidewalks.
Create safer crossings for all – Enable safer crossings with bumpouts and restriping and reconstruct traffic signals for improved timing, functionality, and efficiency. BCDOT is also adding new audible and countdown pedestrian-activated signals at signalized intersections.
Project Location
The Project will introduce improvements on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (eastern bound) and West North Avenue (western bound), an approximately 1.25-mile span.
Project Status
As of fall of 2026, the Pennsylvania Avenue Roadway Rehabilitation Project is in the planning and design phase. BCDOT has completed its Existing Conditions Assessment of the corridor, identifying infrastructural deficiencies, project-specific locations for planned improvements, and other details. You can find the Existing Conditions Assessment Report in the Documents section on this webpage.
Over the fall and winter of 2027, BCDOT will:
Develop concept designs for improvements.
Introduce concept designs to communities and surrounding stakeholders during the public engagement phase.
Create preliminary design plans with a preferred alternative based on public feedback, which will then progress to full design.
Planned Improvements
Transportation infrastructure enhancements will include:
Roadway rehabilitation (base repairs, milling and paving)
Improvements to sidewalks, driveways, and pedestrian ramps ensuring ADA compliance
Incorporation of trees and tree pits, grass strips, bump-outs, and street amenities
New signage and pavement markings
Replacement of damaged curbs and gutters
Reconstruction of nine (9) traffic signals at intersections
Installation of new and/or upgraded LED fixtures of existing street lights.
Public Engagement
We will update this section when we have a schedule of planned engagement events. Please stay tuned!
Follow Project
To receive email newsletter updates related to the Pennsylvania Avenue Roadway Rehabilitation Project, please click the “Follow Project” link in the right column of this webpage and provide your email address.
