BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. — Owings Mills neighbors say sidewalks are few and far between on Reisterstown Rd., causing major safety issues.
WATCH: MDOT to prioritize pedestrian safety along Baltimore County Road
MDOT is stepping in to fix the problem.
Residents living near Reisterstown Rd like Don and Audrey Adams said that walking along the street has been a challenge for a while.
“There are a lot of places that just don’t have sidewalks, so I had to cross the road so I could stay on the sidewalk and not the field," Don said.
“And it’s a popular bus route, so you know people are trying to catch buses without a sidewalk," Audrey added.
The State Highway Administration is looking into the issue along the corridor from Rosewood Lane to MD 30.
It's a part of the statewide pedestrian safety action plan.
On Tuesday, MDOT held a workshop to get feedback from neighbors on proposed fixes.
Deputy District Engineer Erin Kuhn ran WMAR-2 News through those ideas.
“We’re looking at adding missing pieces of sidewalk, updating crosswalks, possibly adding some additional crossings, upgrading any pedestrian signals that might be needed," Kuhn said.
The project also looks at moving or combining bus stops and adding mid-block crossings.
It's something Audrey is iffy about.
“I’m a little concerned about crosswalks in the middle where there are no intersections because I feel like that could cause cars to stop suddenly, cause other potential car accidents because they’re stopping for a pedestrian.”
Dawn Fischer, a neighbor, told us that the sidewalk issue has been made worse by new townhouses and developments popping up in the area.
“Especially in one area where they had taken away a sidewalk because there have been changes, as I said before, in construction and everything," Fischer said.
Kuhn clarified that not all of the sidewalks will be targeted.
“There are, some of these roads are pretty old, and we don’t have quite a lot of right away, the property frontage.”
The design is expected to be completed in the summer of 2027.
They're looking at spring of 2028 for construction to start.
