Background

The ongoing Department of Public Works construction project in Druid Hill Park to install tanks to store treated city drinking water is moving to a phase of pipe construction to connect the two tanks our water system. The pipe will cross Druid Park Lake Drive at Linden Avenue, and follow the roadway along the median east to the JFX on-ramps. To make this connection, DPW will need to dig a trench in the median of Druid Park Lake Drive.

In between the original plans for this construction and today, Baltimore City Department of Transportation received a grant from People For Bikes called The Big Jump, to install a temporary shared use pathway along Druid Park Lake Drive and across the 28th Street bridge, a road diet and protected bike lanes on Huntingdon Avenue and 25th Street, a bike boulevard on 27th Street, and bike lanes on Remington Avenue.

Of those grant funded projects, only the most important one—the connection across Druid Park Lake Drive and the 28th Street bridge—has been constructed. The shared use path, installed in June 2018, allows people to walk, bike, skate, and use a wheelchair or mobility device to safely cross from Reservoir Hill to Remington for the first time.

The Detour

The trench work for the Druid Hill Reservoir will require detour of The Big Jump for approximately one year, and work will begin as soon as September 28, 2020. Motor vehicle traffic will move to the existing travel lane utilized by The Big Jump from Linden Avenue to the Mount Royal Avenue slip lane. Water filled barriers along this portion of roadway will be replaced with concrete barriers. The Big Jump will be relocated to an adjacent 8 foot sidewalk, which DOT is working to clear of weeds and debris.

The Big Jump will follow an 8 foot sidewalk from Linden Avenue to Lakeview Avenue. DOT is working to mow and clear debris.

At Lakeview Avenue, The Big Jump will move to the northern side of the street adjacent to Lakeview Towers, repurposing an existing parking lane. It will then cross over to the existing pathway on the 28th Street bridge through a newly created curb cut underneath the existing non-ADA accessible pedestrian overpass from Druid Park Lake Drive to 28th Street. To facilitate safe crossing at this location, the Mount Royal slip lane will be closed to motor vehicle traffic with physical barriers—a huge safety improvement.

The Big Jump detour from Lakeview Avenue past the Lakeview Towers to the Mount Royal slip lane.

The Big Jump detour will connect back to the original Big Jump path through the Mount Royal slip lane, which will be closed to motor vehicle traffic.

What’s next

While the sidewalk element of this detour is not ideal, there are very encouraging opportunities that the trench work unlocks. Since the existing water filled barriers are being replaced with concrete barriers through the duration of the detour, it’s possible we could keep the concrete barriers in place when The Big Jump returns to the street, improving safety and reducing maintenance. It’s also possible to reconfigure and resurface the motor vehicle travel lanes along Druid Park Lake Drive. This will further reinforce The Big Jump as a semi-permanent pathway.

Also coming up is the release of the Big Jump evaluation report. It’s exciting in that it reveals The Big Jump had almost no effect on traffic conditions—one of the major vocal complaints from drivers.

Long-term, Baltimore City Department of Transportation has committed to a corridor realignment study to propose a complete redesign or removal of the highways that separate Druid Hill Park from communities. None of this work would have been possible without community partners and the leadership of Councilman Leon Pinkett. Neighbors and advocates are organizing around the corridor realignment study under the banner of The Access Project: Druid Hill Park. You can read more at TAP Druid Hill.