Roland Park Unveils Traffic Relief Plan

Roland Park residents are hopeful that a traffic calming plan, which is expected to cost $3.5 million, will reduce congestion along Roland Avenue.

Roland Avenue often becomes a traffic quagmire during the hour before and after school between Wyndhurst Avenue and Northern Parkway, a less-than-a-mile-long corridor that is home to four schools: , Roland Park Country School, and School. 

The projects will be paid for with a combination of city and federal dollars along with contributions from Bryn Mawr and Gilman. Those schools will be paying for improvements that directly benefit those institutions.

Community leaders say an aggressive timetable is in place.

A contract for the work could be awarded by this time next year, said Al Copp, a Roland Park resident who helped develop the plan.

The projects would also improve the aesthetics of the neighborhood as detailed in the recently approved master plan for the greater Roland Park area, said Philip Spevak, president of the Roland Park Civic League.

Here are the project's details:

• Bump outs, or curb extensions, along Roland Avenue.
• The addition of several special cross walks with special colored asphalt along Roland Avenue, Cold Spring Lane and Wyndhurst Avenue. 
• Adding a turn lane and traffic signal into the Gilman School campus on westbound Northern Parkway.
• Adding a turn lane into Gilman School on southbound Roland Avenue. In return, more trees and green space will be added to the median.
• Adding a turn Lane and traffic signal heading into Bryn Mawr School from eastbound Northern Parkway.

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