BALTIMORE — Students at Henderson-Hopkins School in East Baltimore planted a tree on Earth Day to symbolize new beginnings as officials announced a nearly $10 million infrastructure project that will improve safety and accessibility in the neighborhood.
The project will upgrade roadways, walkways, water mains, drainage and lighting along Ashland Avenue, Eager Street and Patterson Park Avenue, with a particular focus on creating safer routes for students at the K-8 school.
VIDEO: Upgrades coming to several East Baltimore roads
Peter Kannam, principal at Henderson-Hopkins School, emphasized that the improvements align with the school's mission as a community institution serving East Baltimore.
"Having safer, and better streets and calmer streets, are going to be good for the students and good for the community members and families," Kannam added.
The initiative is part of a long-term effort by East Baltimore Development Inc., which has been working to revitalize the area since 2002 through public and private funding.
"It is more than roads and sidewalks for us. It is about stronger connection, improving access, and laying the groundwork for opportunity," said Cheryl Washington, CEO of EDBI, at a Tuesday afternoon event.
Mayor Brandon Scott (D) highlighted the broader impact of the project during the Eager Park announcement.
"When we talk about infrastructure folks normally just think about simple things like roads and sidewalks. And this project will do that as you heard. But this is about much more than that- it's about the green space, the trees. We have to reimagine what public infrastructure is for the modern era," said Scott.
More than $7 million of the project's funding comes from federal and state governments.
Officials expect this phase of development to be completed within a year.
This report was converted from its original broadcast television script to a web article with the assistance of an AI tool. A WMAR-2 News journalist thoroughly reviewed its contents before posting it to our website.
