Posted on 04/21/25
| News Source: WMAR2NEWS
Baltimore, MD - April 21, 2025 - Change is coming to the Inner Harbor in more ways than one.
In addition to an ongoing revitalization project greenlit by voters last fall, Baltimore's Department of Transportation announced upgrades to the portion of Pratt Street that runs along the Harbor.
The goal: to make the bustling area more bike and pedestrian friendly.
"Because it has a high volume of crashes, especially with pedestrians, any safety improvements we can make are good," executive director of Bikemore Jed Weeks said.
The project, expected to begin in mid-May and last nine months, promises high visibility crosswalks, ADA accessibility upgrades and more signage at three key intersections: Light, Calvert and President Streets.
"That's excellent to give people another opportunity to get out and about to see the city a little bit more up close and personal than just rolling by through your car window," runner Akeem Harris said.
Weeks also says this keeps Baltimore going in the right direction.
"Towns are retrofitting themselves in cities across America to be friendlier for people walking and biking. Those folks tend to spend more money, shop more frequently, hang out a lot longer in the downtown areas or in small business districts," he said. "Every other city in North America is doing this stuff and we've been behind, so it is encouraging to see us try to catch up."
Though, he wishes there was more time for feedback.
The first public meeting about the project is scheduled on Tuesday, April 29th at 6 p.m. at the Baltimore Convention Center just a couple weeks before the project is expected to begin.
"The bike lane behind us [in Remington] had like 15 meetings and it's just some stripes on the ground," he said. "There's this disparity in the public input process for projects and we just need to make that consistent."
Construction is scheduled overnight but drivers should be aware of possible lane closures. Advanced notice will be provided for "major" impacts.