Waste of the Day: Baltimore Put Crosswalks on the Wrong Streets

Topline: Baltimore County spent $125,513 installing crosswalks and traffic devices in the wrong locations, according to a recent inspector general report.

Baltimore County and its errant crosswalk placement

Key facts: The errors came from the local Traffic Calming Unit, which was supposed to reduce traffic and enforce speed limits in residential areas by installing raised crosswalks with speed humps.

The mistakes began after an employee at Victory Villa Elementary School asked the county to install a raised crosswalk in front of the school. The county promptly spent $20,606 to build one at the intersection of Compass Road and Cord Street — almost a mile away from the school. The manager of the Traffic Calming Unit did not realize the mistake until the school employee sent a follow-up email three months later asking when the crosswalk would be built, according to the IG report.

The county also spent $17,764 to install a raised crosswalk on Kenwood Avenue, a state-owned road that the county cannot build on. It cost $9,625 to remove the crosswalk, the report found.

Another crosswalk was installed for $25,451 at the intersection of a dead-end marina and a dead-end rural area with little traffic, even though the crosswalks are meant for “densely-developed urban areas,” according to the inspector general. The county’s public works director could not explain why the crosswalk was built and agreed with the inspector general that it was not a good use of money.

Speed humps were also placed on Wampler Road, where 75% of residents had to sign a petition agreeing that the humps were necessary. Only 53% agreed, but nine humps were built anyway for $33,094.

The county does not include the city

Background: Baltimore County has nearly 1 million residents but does not include Baltimore City.

Public Works Director Lauren Buckler-Duncan made $200,682 last year, though she was not director during some of the time period covered by the inspector general report. There were 86 other county employees who made at least $200,000 in 2024, per an open records request filed by Open the Books.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Summary: With the State of Maryland planning over $21 billion in infrastructure upgrades in Baltimore County, it’s concerning that local officials can’t even build crosswalks on the correct streets.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.