The Johns Hopkins University will spend $15 million in the next year to improve safety for bicyclists, joggers and other pedestrians along one of the most scenic roadways on its Homewood campus in North Baltimore, the school announced Wednesday.
The investment by the university, funded primarily through gifts, also will preserve and improve upon the aesthetic appeal of San Martin Drive, which snakes between the western edge of the campus and the wooded Wyman Park, the university said.
"A road where some sidewalks now suddenly end and others are too narrow will instead be flanked by a continuous, up-to-standards path for those on foot — including a pedestrian-only bridge almost 350 feet long," the university said in a statement.
The road is popular among students and other campus community members for exercise. While there haven't been any major accidents in recent years, there is "a lot of potential" for run-ins between cars, bikes and pedestrians, said Dennis O'Shea, a university spokesman.
"The lack of adequate sidewalks, and tough sightlines because of the windiness of the roadway, accentuate that potential for vehicle-pedestrian conflict," O'Shea said. "We want to do what we can — especially by improving the pedestrian experience — to minimize that potential."
The announcement comes amid renewed calls for improved biking and pedestrian infrastructure across the city following the death last month of a popular cyclist on Roland Avenue, and follows other efforts at the university to make pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers more aware of their surroundings.
In 2012, the university hung a banner on the existing pedestrian bridge over San Martin Drive reminding community members to use caution as part of its "Road Scholars" safety campaign.
The city of Baltimore, which owns San Martin Drive, has agreed to the improvements. Work will begin in February and is expected to last a year, the university said.
"The university is about to make one of the most attractive, most pleasant roadways in the Homewood campus area even better," said Daniel G. Ennis, the university's senior vice president for finance and administration. "We want it to be safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers, and even more beautiful for the campus community, our neighbors and campus visitors."
The new pedestrian path will connect University Parkway and Wyman Park Drive, then continue another tenth of a mile to Remington Avenue, the university said.
Part of the path will consist of a 345-foot long, 36-foot-tall, 8-foot-wide elevated pedestrian bridge along a stretch of San Martin between Olin Hall and the San Martin Center where the existing roadway does not have a sidewalk and cannot be widened.
Brick gateways to the path will also be installed at the intersections of San Martin and University and Wyman Park and Remington that will resemble the existing gates at the north, south, east and west entrances to the campus.
"Just as the recent Charles Street reconstruction enhanced the beauty and safety of the front door to the Homewood campus, the San Martin project will greatly improve an important alternative route to our university," said Alan R. Fish, vice president for facilities and real estate at Hopkins.
Campus community members may have to use detours around the area during certain phases of construction. More information on those detours will be posted at http://ts.jhu.edu/sanmartindrive.
The project was engineered by Baltimore-based RK&K, with landscaping designed by Baltimore-based Ayers Saint Gross and construction by Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner Construction Co., the university said.
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