MedStar Harbor Hospital announced Thursday that it has received a $500,000 grant to go toward connecting bicycle and pedestrian paths from Anne Arundel County into Baltimore city.
In a news release, MedStar wrote that the $500,000 Maryland Anchor SEED funding grant “will provide 30 percent of the engineering design” to develop and connect a 3-mile bicycle and pedestrian path spanning from the BWI Trail in Anne Arundel County to the Gwynns Falls Trail in Baltimore.
The path, which will be developed by MedStar with help from the Greater Baybrook Alliance and South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, is expected to cost $3 million and take 18 months to complete, MedStar wrote.
The outline of the path is still being determined, the group wrote, but it will use public roads through the Brooklyn and Brooklyn Park communities before connecting with the BWI Trail in Pumphrey. The group wrote that the path will include a part of South Hanover Street that already has an unprotected bike lane.
[ Hikers and bikers get in motion as trail season opens in Baltimore ]
The group says about half the households in Cherry Hill, near the proposed path, do not have access to a car.
“This project will help address one of the toughest problems in these communities — transportation barriers. This protected route will make it easier for residents to get to the Middle Branch Park, the soon-to-be developed Wellness Center in Reedbird Park, jobs, and health services at the hospital,” said Meredith Chaiken, executive director for Greater Baybrook Alliance.
The bicycle and pedestrian lane project comes amid plans to address years of neglect at the greater Middle Branch waterfront, as three architectural firms have drawn up plans about how to revitalize the region.