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University plans Yale Avenue upgrades near Purple Line; council offers support
Summary
UMD presented Yale Avenue/Fraternity Row improvements to add sidewalks, a shared pedestrian-bicycle path, parallel parking and stormwater treatments; council voted to authorize a letter of support for the county planning review.
University of Maryland officials outlined a street‑improvement project for Yale Avenue and the area behind Fraternity Row designed to boost bicycle and pedestrian safety and reduce impervious area. The design replaces diagonal pull‑in parking with parallel parking, adds sidewalks, landscape buffers and a shared pedestrian/bicycle path, and installs stormwater treatment features.
UMD staff said the improvements will improve connectivity to the Purple Line and the new Discovery House graduate housing. "We are replacing pull in, pull out parking spaces with parallel parking spaces," a university representative said, summarizing a safety-driven shift that reduces conflict and frees space for buffering and bicycle facilities.
Councilmembers backed the plan and asked questions about parking impacts, timing and coordinating nearby Campus Drive and bike connections. The council moved and approved a staff letter of support to the county planning authority; UMD said short‑term mitigation includes reopening parking areas currently used for construction staging and longer-term parking structures remain a conceptual option tied to future phases of district redevelopment.
