(October 15, 2012) – Ginger Palmer calls it simply “incredible.” The chair of the Anne Arundel County Commission on Disability Issues says that thanks to a recent sidewalk upgrade project she’s now able to navigate all of Annapolis’ outer West Street corridor, which stretches 1.8 miles from Westgate Circle to MD 2 (Solomons Island Road).
Palmer joined Annapolis residents and business owners, Mayor Josh Cohen, state and local elected officials and others in front of the Annapolis Area Library today in lauding the Maryland State Highway Administration’s (SHA) recent sidewalk retrofit project, which provides continuous pedestrian access to the hundreds of businesses, residences and community resources along the outer West St. corridor.
The $1.8 million project focused on linking the entire corridor via new ADA-compliant sidewalks, and removing obstacles such as fire hydrants and utility poles from the pedestrian travel path. Work included replacing existing sidewalks that were narrow and deteriorated with new five-foot wide sidewalks, constructing new sidewalks in some areas, installing curb ramps, relocating utilities and constructing sidewalk “bump outs” to provide a safe pedestrian travel path around obstacles that could not be relocated.
“For the first time ever, all Annapolis residents and visitors can travel from downtown Annapolis to the city limit at Solomons Island Road,” said Annapolis Mayor Josh Cohen. “This is truly a great enhancement for residents, visitors and the many business owners who keep outer West Street thriving for all of Annapolis. I would like to thank the state for making this project a priority and getting it done ahead of schedule."
SHA Administrator Melinda Peters noted that the project could not have succeeded without the support of Annapolis City officials, business owners and residents. “While improving access is a top priority at SHA, we cannot complete critical projects such as this one without the participation of property owners. More than 140 residents and business owners graciously provided SHA with the necessary agreements to access their properties for construction of the new sidewalks. With their help, we were able to move quickly and complete the majority of work ahead of schedule. Now, all of Annapolis can benefit from their cooperation.”
Peters added that the City of Annapolis has been a great partner on this project, updating residents on the construction progress via the City website and working closely with SHA’s contractor and project engineer to resolve issues quickly and keep traffic and public impacts to a minimum. While some touch-up and utility relocation work remain to be done, the new sidewalks are in place on both sides of West Street.
More than three miles of curb/gutter, and 60,000 square feet of sidewalk were installed as part of this project. The general contractor is Anchor Construction of Washington, DC.
In recognition of Disability History and Awareness Month in Maryland, the timely completion of the West Street project is an example of collaborative partnership to provide and support safe, accessible transportation options for all pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and drivers. Committed to providing safe access and mobility for all, SHA is surpassing its business goal to enhance its inventory of sidewalk to ADA compliance by two percent each year. The ADA Sidewalk program invested $19.8 million to improve sidewalks and address ADA issues last year. More than 730 accessible pedestrian signals have been installed on State roadways since the program began in 2006.
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