By SHARON O’MALLEY
PHOTO CREDIT Giuseppi LoPiccolo
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s proposed $67.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2026 includes funding to start planning for improvements to Route 1 from Greenbelt Road to the Beltway.
The second and third phases of a three-prong upgrade could take several years to design and engineer, and even longer before visible construction begins. Phase 1, which finished in November, stretched from College Avenue to Route 193.
“Route 1 is the front door to the University of Maryland; it’s our flagship university and we want people, when they come, to feel good about the community,” state Sen. Jim Rosapepe (District 21) told College Park Here & Now. “They don’t see the neighborhoods. All they see is Route 1.”
College Park Mayor Fazlul Kabir agreed. “Route 1 is our Main Street, plain and simple,” he said. “Every community wants to see a very nice Main Street. This project will make it happen.”
Changes along the North College Park stretch of Route 1 are likely to mirror those made during the $56.9 million first phase, which added bicycle lanes, raised mediums, widened driving lanes and upgraded drainage.
At a November ribbon cutting marking the completion of Phase 1, Rosapepe said planning for the project began about 25 years ago, but a lack of funding and the relocation of utilities delayed its execution and completion.
The senator said the upcoming round of construction will be quicker than that, but will still take several years and will not begin until officials reach out to the community for input.
Kabir said the opinions of residents will guide the designers.
“I personally would like to see bike lanes,” he said, “but if we hear from the community it’s not a top priority for them … the scope of the work will be different” from Phase 1. For example, he added, “If you don’t have the bike lanes, the road won’t need to be widened.”
Median strips, which will force drivers to make left turns at traffic lights instead of in random locations, along with bike lanes and wider and more sidewalks, will make the highway safer for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, Rosapepe said.
As is, “it is not safe to walk on Route 1,” Kabir said. “The sidewalks are very narrow. Plus, they’re not contiguous. They have breaks in different sections.”
And for bikers, he noted, “you have to take your life in your hands.”
Dedicated left-turn lanes and bright green bike lanes will make the roadway safer while improving the flow of traffic, Kabir said.
The project also will upgrade the appearance of the highway, with updated lighting and landscaped medians.
“All of that is designed to make the visual experience much better,” Rosapepe said.
Kabir credited Maryland Delegate Ben Barnes (District 21), who lives in College Park and chairs the House Appropriations Committee, with fast-tracking the project. Rosapepe noted that he and another District 21 delegate, Joseline Peña-Melnyk, also live in the city.
“The 21st District delegation has been working for years to make Route 1 in College Park safer,” Rosapepe said.
Barnes called the progress “exciting. … This is a big win for College Park, to get our project funded and accelerated. We’re going to be here to make sure it comes to fruition and the road is done in a way that the community would expect.”
The state Legislature is expected to vote on the governor’s budget proposal by March 31.
