The Department of Defense announced that they have selected the St. Mary’s County Defense Community Infrastructure Program (DCIP) application as one of only thirteen grant awards for the country.
St. Mary’s County’s Departments of Economic Development and Public Works and Transportation collaborated with the Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS PAX) to submit the application to build a signalized crosswalk across Three Notch Road at Gate 2. The $395,118 grant award will fund most of the $564,454 project.
DCIP is designed to address deficiencies in community infrastructure, supportive of a military installation, to enhance military value, installation resilience, and military family quality of life. The County crosswalk project will also include a sidewalk extension linking Gate 2 to the existing sidewalk and crosswalk at Gate 1. This infrastructure improvement will allow pedestrians and cyclists to safely cross the six lane Three Notch Road and travel the one-mile distance between Gate 1 and Gate 2. Currently, Three Notch Road’s design and heavy traffic volumes do not allow for bike lanes and force bicyclists to use the sidewalks. These interlinked improvements will allow safe bike and pedestrian access to the base and for base personnel to reach the Lexington Park commercial district to access local restaurants, services, and other businesses.
The concept for this project was discussed between the Commissioners of St Mary’s County and the Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS PAX) Commanding Officers during previous Joint Meetings of the two entities. This project implements an improvement listed in the Naval Base Commuter Multi-Modal Mobility Planning Study Naval Air Station, Patuxent River.
Additionally, the construction of this project will allow a direct link to the fully funded and under design Three Notch Trail, which when completed will stretch 28 miles from Gate 1 to Charles County through the County’s most heavily residential and commercial districts. The sidewalk link to Gate 2 and the Frank Knox Educational Center will complete that connection to the two primary NAS PAX gates and a major group of destinations for NAS PAX personnel.
The Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPW&T) plans to begin construction of the crosswalk project within 12 months of grant award. The total project estimated cost is $564,454. The proposal seeks $395,118, with $169,336 matched with County funds.
Read the U.S. Department of Defense’s Press Release here: https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2785120/dod-approves-60-million-in-grants-under-defense-community-infrastructure-pilot/.
