FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Press Release #09-0035
Capital Design Advisory Hosts Community Open House Jan. 21
To Explore Alternatives to Proposed Pedestrian Bridge
(St. Mary’s City, MD) Jan. 12, 2009 –The Capital Design Advisory (CDA) of St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) and Historic St. Mary’s City (HSMC) will host an open house on campus in Glendening Hall, Room 191, on Wed., Jan. 21. Community members are invited to visit from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Additional alternatives to the pedestrian crossing over Route 5 will be on exhibit. College and HSMC staff will be on hand to talk with visitors about the various options presented. Feedback from the community will be welcomed.
The college and HSMC, after the last public meeting at which some community members voiced concerns about a pedestrian bridge, have agreed to look at alternative solutions in addition to the proposed footbridge for improving the safety of pedestrians crossing Route 5. The open house will provide concerned individuals the opportunity to look at these alternatives. Visitors will be able to speak directly and informally to representatives from SMCM and HSMC. Community members will also have the chance to provide feedback on the various options via e-mail or response card.
In addition to the Open House on Jan. 21, the CDA will hold a public meeting on Monday, Jan. 26, to review the feedback received from the community on alternatives. The time and location for this meeting will be announced at a later date.
The CDA will subsequently forward that feedback to SMCM and HSMC for consideration. The college and HSMC will then announce the preferred option. A final CDA meeting will be scheduled in February to review it.
Exhibits at the open house will be of all options for enhancing the safety of those crossing Route 5, including the earlier proposed footbridge. Also under consideration are improving the existing crosswalk; using traffic control devices; making general improvements throughout the Route 5-campus corridor; and building a tunnel in place of the south crosswalk.
Concerns for the safety of SMCM students, faculty, staff, and visitors to HSMC crossing Route 5 to get across campus prompted the initial proposal for a pedestrian bridge over the highway. According to recent statistics collected by the SMCM Office of Planning and Facilities, when school is in session, some 600 people cross Route 5 daily between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Most cross at the south crosswalk which is between the Campus Center and the St. Mary’s City Post Office.
The CDA was created by SMCM and Historic St. Mary’s City to provide an interface for community input to their capital development planning. The CDA is charged with seeking public comment in its review of master plan and design proposals for major capital improvement and landscape projects on the St. Mary’s College campus and the grounds of Historic St. Mary’s City. Membership of the CDA includes representatives from established community organizations, the college, and the city.
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