Nonprofit Pitches Traffic Calming Mural to Hampden

The ARTblocks nonprofit and the Department of Transportation asked the Hampden Community Council to consider participating in an innovative traffic calming program.

Instead of installing streetlights, speed bumps or crosswalks, the neighborhood is being asked to consider painting a mural at the intersection of 36th Street and Elm Avenue.

These street murals have a slowing affect on traffic, according to the Department of Transportation.

The murals are designed to be safe—they are also not permitted to display acts of gratuitous violence or be overtly religious— so that they don’t distract motorists or lure pedestrians into the street.

Because the program requires that it be cost neutral to the city, the design and funding of the mural would be up to the community. There are a few organizations such as the The Marion I. and Henry J. Knott Foundation that provide grants for such projects.

The cost of installing a mural, depending on how the mural is applied to the intersection and the cost of a city permit to do the installation, could range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars.

A process to ensure community involvement as well as the safety of the design has been put together by the Department of Transportation.

Other traffic calming murals in Baltimore:

• Harford Road and Montebello Terrace
• Harford Road and Hamilton Avenue
• McElderry and North Chester Street
• Conklin and Bond streets
• SE and Eastern avenues

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