The National Park Service has less than half of the money required for repairing the main routes including the George Washington Parkway, Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and Rock Creek Parkway.
The agency, which released its 20-year transportation plan for roads across the D.C. region, concluded that the “financial needs far outweigh available funding.”
There’s an annual funding gap of approximately $50 million between 2016 and 2021, excluding the Arlington Memorial Bridge restoration.
To reconstruct the region’s several parkways, the Park Service will need $19 million every year for the next 20 years. The parkways that need repairs and maintenance work include the heavily used Baltimore-Washington Parkway, Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, and Clara Barton Parkway.
This is absolutely absurd. The BW Parkway South after Rt. 32 is like driving on swiss cheese. I have never seen such a long stretch of road in this bad of a condition in the entire area. @nbcwashington @WTOPtraffic @wbaltv11 pic.twitter.com/avMlT41t4p
— ʙʀᴀᴅ ꜰʀᴇɪᴛᴀꜱ (@Chopper4Brad) March 11, 2019
“Current road conditions, especially on roads like the Baltimore-Washington Parkway are not the best. We’re doing everything we can to improve those,” National Park Service spokesperson Jonathan Shafer told WTOP.
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen on Friday penned a letter, addressing the National Park Service acting Director Dan Smith. Hollen requested quicker repairs to the “unacceptable conditions” on the BW Parkway.
“It’s an unsafe situation that needs to be remedied immediately through expedited action by the National Park Service and its federal partners,” wrote Hollen.
However, funds required for renewal and maintenance continue to be inadequate. According to the 20-year plan, climate change also poses an additional threat which calls for more frequent reconstructions of key routes in the area.