Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Dpwt Fy26 Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DPWT outlines FY2026 cuts and new programs; committee presses for sidewalks, shelters and clearer paving priorities
Summary
DPWT presented a smaller FY2026 operating budget and told the TIE committee about expanded street sweeping, a thin-lift paving pilot for light-load roads, a countywide sidewalk inventory and a transit transformation plan aimed at improving bus reliability.
The Prince George's County Department of Public Works & Transportation (DPWT) presented its FY2026 proposed budget and a wide-ranging overview of operational programs to the Transportation Infrastructure Energy Environment Committee, including street-sweeping expansion, a thin-lift paving pilot for low-traffic residential streets, a planned countywide sidewalk condition inventory and a multi-year transit transformation effort.
Budget overview and grants
"The FY26 proposed budget for DPWT is approximately $45,100,000," DPWT budget analyst Miss Singleton told the committee, noting that figure represents a 33.1% decrease from the FY25 approved budget largely because one-time grant appropriations and vehicle purchases in FY25 do not repeat in FY26. Singleton said the department expects to request an FY25 supplemental to cover snow and ice control costs and explained proposed capital outlays for electric buses and paratransit equipment.
Street sweeping, paving pilot and sidewalks
DPWT described an expanded residential street-sweeping program that moved to phase two in April and will run in 24 sweeping zones; the department reported it had collected roughly 75 tons of litter in the program's first week. DPWT also described a thin-lift overlay pilot for lower-load residential streets that uses a 4.475-millimeter lift rather than conventional thicker asphalt builds in areas not subject to heavy truck loads.
On sidewalks, DPWT said it lacks a comprehensive, cleaned dataset of sidewalk conditions and is undertaking a countywide inventory and data cleaning effort. The department told the committee it expects an initial cleaned inventory by spring next year; council members asked for earlier briefings and the district-specific profiles DPWT said it has prepared to guide project prioritization.
Transit and bus shelters
DPWT presented a Transit Vision Plan (TVP) update and said it will complete a near-final draft and launch a public website; the department said the short-term network aims to make bus service more reliable and increase frequency toward a "show up and go" standard. DPWT also described a fleet diversification effort that includes hybrid and electric buses and retrofit work that reduced bus emissions.
Committee members pressed DPWT on bus shelter availability and accessibility for seniors. DPWT said the budget includes $900,000 for new and replacement bus shelters and estimated a per-shelter installation cost in the $17,000-$20,000 range to deliver accessible pads and amenities; the department said it expects to add roughly 16 stops/shelters in the coming period and that additional shelters could be funded through other CIP or bond choices.
Paving funding and equity questions
Multiple council members asked about how DPWT prioritizes paving across council districts. DPWT officials and the administration noted that the county's annual core paving allocation is approximately $25.5 million and that carry-forward and construction timing cause apparent year-to-year variation. DPWT said it is shifting toward a network-based approach for pavement investments rather than a strict equal-per-district split to improve overall pavement condition indices (PCI), and officials agreed to provide historical spending data and contract breakdowns to the council offices.
Other programs
DPWT highlighted accomplishments and operational work including tree planting and "right tree, right place" initiatives, storm-drain repairs and sediment removal, pond inspections and maintenance work, and an expansion of the county's bike-share network to new stations. The department said it has reduced a backlog of PGC 311 requests and moved the 311 handling into the director's office to speed response times.
Requests and next steps
Council members asked DPWT for district-level lists of planned paving, traffic studies and sidewalk/pedestrian safety projects, contract spending details for recent paving work, bus-shelter project lists by district, and timing on the sidewalk inventory data product. DPWT agreed to provide the requested lists and to brief the committee and district offices as the sidewalk and transit work progresses.
No committee vote was taken on DPWT's budget in this session.
