Current Project Status

Design for the Washington Ave cycletrack and Wolfe Street traffic calming will resume in the Summer of 2024. BCDOT has also applied for a grant to construct the project. More updates will be posted soon! In the meantime, please provide any feedback on the project in the comments section at the bottom of this page. BCDOT will take your feedback into account as we begin the next phase of design. There will be other opportunities to provide further feedback in the coming months.

Summary of Previous Work

The City of Baltimore Department of Transportation led a feasibility study to determine and develop a preliminary concept of a dedicated bicycle facility on Wolfe Street and/or Washington Street from Aliceanna Street in Fells Point to Sinclair Lane in Clifton Park. This study was funded by a 2019 Maryland Department of Transportation Kim Lamphier Bikeways Network Program grant. This project studied the feasibility of providing dedicated bicycle lanes along Wolfe Street and/or Washington Street in accordance with the 2015 City of Baltimore Bike Master Plan and 2017 Separated Bike Lane Network Plan. The study period spanned January 2021 through June 2023 and included four public meetings. Additionally, the City and a consultant team examined existing conditions, such as land use, volumes (pedestrian, bicycle, traffic), and curbside usage, to gain a thorough understanding of the range of possibilities. In June 2023, BCDOT concluded the feasibility study and determined a 30% concept design that will provide the foundation for the next phase of preliminary design. The feasibility study recommended one lane of vehicle traffic with two parking lanes and a protected two-way bicycle facility on Washington Street. Complementary traffic calming recommendations for Wolfe Street include speed bumps, driving lane reduction, and flexible use curb space. The report and design are published in the documents section of this page.

Feasibility Study interactive comment map.

Public meeting #4 - April 4th, 2023

Public MEETING #4 agenda

• Welcome and Introductions
• Project Background + History
• Previous Public Meeting Recap
• Adjustments Based On YOUR Feedback
• 30% Design Concept
• Flex Spaces on Wolfe Street for YOUR Neighborhood
• Next Steps
• Open Discussion

Project background + History

Project summary

• Separated Bike Lane (SBL) Network
  • Released 2015
  • Updated 2017
• Grant Funding from State of Maryland
• Examine Wolfe Street and/or Washington
  Street for ideal candidate for SBL and SBL
  concept
• “Why is the City installing bike lanes on Baltimore streets?”
  • DOT is delivering on needs of the City and its residents
  • DOT responsibility to safely accommodate vulnerable users
  • Complete Streets Ordinance elevates priority of pedestrians, bicyclists,
    and transit users

• “Why Wolfe/Washington corridors?”
  • Address known speeding concerns
  • Favorable north/south direction
  • One way pairs = fit opportunities
  • Existing traffic volumes and road widths are
    favorable for reconfiguration

Project limits

• Wolfe Street and Washington Street
  • Aliceanna Street to Sinclair Lane
  • Establish/strengthen connections to:
    • Clifton Park
    • Inner Harbor
    • Baltimore Waterfront Promenade
    • St. Lo Drive Future Bike Lanes (under construction)
    • Harford Road Bridge

Project goals

• Study feasibility of all age-protected bicycle facility
• Improve north-south accommodations/connections between Clifton
  Park & Fells Point
• Improve connections to the existing City bicycle network
• Incorporate targeted safety improvements
• Develop partnerships with the community to identify and incorporate priorities, preferences, and recommendations.
• Complete 30% of design plans of the preferred concept.

Key Feedback

• Continue to preserve parking
• What happens when I need to unload my groceries?
• Two lanes on Wolfe will not help calm traffic, can you do more?
• What about emergency vehicles? Can they get to the hospital?
• How do I access the bus? Will there be delays behind buses?

30% Design Plan

Existing Conditions, Washington Street

Planned Two-Way Cycle-Track, Washington Street

• 10' wide, separated cycle-track in road
  • Supports all ages and abilities
  • Width of cycle-track supports bicycles, e-bikes, scooters, e-scooters, skateboards, walkers, runners, and wheelchairs
• Left-side placement prevents transit conflicts
• 3' wide buffer with flexposts and wheelstops (or alternative materials as decided through further outreach)
  • protects cycle-track users and spaced to allow car doors to open and residents to unload in buffer areas
• Two 8' wide parking lanes
  • Preserving 90% of space for parked cars.
    • 10% of space lost mostly represents space that was not legal parking to begin with, such as curb space adjacent to intersections which interferes with crossing/turning vehicle sight distance
    • The new design stripes legal parking space area so drivers can see at intersections
  • Maintain resident permit parking (Zones 17, 18, 20) and handicap permit parking
  • Potential for loading zone areas, allowing for temporary loading and unloading at certain times of the day and normal parking at other times. Will work with communities to determine whether this is a good solution for loading/unloading, as well as the locations and times.
• New crosswalks and cycle track conflict markings
  • Improves the visibility of pedestrians, shortens crossing distances, organizes modes at intersections, alerts everyone of potential users at alleys, addition of safety signage at alleys

***Notes for next stage of Washington Street design

• How do the neighborhoods feel about the loading zones and times?
• Intersection signals will need to be addressed.
  • Pedestrian countdown
  • Vehicular turning
  • Two-way bicycle movements
• Vertical post and wheelstop or other barrier from cycle-track to parking should be explored and the most recent design standard will be applied
• Continue to consider accommodations for all users

Wolfe Street, south of Baltimore Street

• Single lane south of Baltimore
  • Reduces crossing distance for pedestrians and calms traffic
• Addition of speed bumps
  • Helps to calm traffic, will be discussed with the community and emergency services
• Temporary striping and posts at intersections will set up the corridor for future sidewalk expansions/bulb-outs
  • Slows turning vehicles, improves visibility for vehicles and pedestrians, reduces pedestrian crossings, and can be an opportunity for locally inspired art
• New feature: Flex Space
  • Can serve different purposes depending on what residents would like, and can be different block-by-block. Options include:
    • Street furniture
    • Street art
    • Plantings and green infrastructure
    • Bike and scooter storage
    • Other possibilities
  • Each available zone should be reflective of block desires. Along the corridor, they can look different, serve different purposes, etc.

Wolfe Street, north of Baltimore Street

• Two vehicle lanes to accommodate emergency vehicles going to Johns Hopkins Hospital
• Temporary striping and posts at intersections will set up the corridor for future sidewalk expansions/bulb-outs
  • Slows turning vehicles, improves visibility for vehicles and pedestrians, reduces pedestrian crossings, and can be an opportunity for locally inspired art
• Instead of two vehicle lanes, potential option for bus-only lane that could be used by emergency vehicles:

***Notes for the next stage of Wolfe Street design

• Placement of flex space
• Community design of flex space (a separate process, but DOT can advise per the Community Placemaking Program)
• Possibility of further traffic calming north of Baltimore and a bus-only lane

September 4th 2022 Meeting