State Highway Administration - Maryland Route 410 (East-West Highway) Pedestrian Safety Action Plan - Expansion

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*sb0868*

SENATE BILL 868
R1 6lr3028
CF HB 1130
By: Senator A. Washington
Introduced and read first time: February 6, 2026
Assigned to: Budget and Taxation

A BILL ENTITLED

AN ACT concerning 1

State Highway Administration – Maryland Route 410 (East–West Highway) 2
Pedestrian Safety Action Plan – Expansion 3

FOR the purpose of requiring the State Highway Administration to expand the scope of the 4
Maryland Route 410 (East–West Highway) Pedestrian Safety Action Plan project to 5
include a certain additional segment of Maryland Route 410 (East–West Highway); 6
and generally relating to expansion of the Maryland Route 410 (East–West Highway) 7
Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. 8

Preamble 9

WHEREAS, The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway 10
Administration initiated the Maryland Route 410 (East–West Highway) Pedestrian Safety 11
Action Plan project (project ID PGA445176) to address documented safety needs within a 12
segment of the East–West Highway corridor in Prince George’s County; and 13

WHEREAS, The existing scope of the Maryland Route 410 (East –West Highway) 14
Pedestrian Safety Action Plan project extends from Maryland Route 212 (Riggs Road) to 15
Maryland Route 500 (Queens Chapel Road), but does not include the segment of East–West 16
Highway east of Queens Chapel Road toward U.S. Route 1 (Baltimore Avenue); and 17

WHEREAS, East–West Highway functions as a major arterial corridor connecting 18
residential communities, commercial centers, transit facilities, and educational institutions 19
and carries significant pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and vehicular traffic along the corridor; 20
and 21

WHEREAS, Segments of East –West Highway east of Queens Chapel Road toward 22
Baltimore Avenue have experienced serious pedestrian and vehicular safety challenges, 23
including severe and fatal crashes, and currently lack continuous, modern, and accessible 24
pedestrian and multimodal safety infrastructure; and 25

2 SENATE BILL 868

WHEREAS, The effectiveness of corridor –based safety improvements is 1
substantially diminished when projects terminate mid –corridor, leaving interruptions in 2
sidewalks, crossings, lighting, and traffic calming that expose road users to inconsistent 3
and unsafe conditions; and 4

WHEREAS, State and loc al transportation safety policies, including the State 5
Highway Administration’s Pedestrian Safety Action Plan and Vision Zero principles, 6
emphasize continuous, context –driven corridor improvements to reduce serious injuries 7
and fatalities and to ensure equ itable access for pedestrians, bicyclists, people with 8
disabilities, and transit users; now, therefore, 9

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 10
That the State Highway Administration shall expand the scope of the existing Maryland 11
Route 410 (East–West Highway) Pedestrian Safety Action Plan project to include the public 12
rights–of–way along East –West Highway from the intersection of Maryland Route 500 13
(Queens Chapel Road) east to U.S. Route 1 (Baltimore Avenue). 14

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 15
1, 2026. 16