Prince George's County Unveils New Median Beautification Program
County Executive Alsobrooks Highlights Tens of Millions of Dollars in Investments Toward Beautification Efforts
LARGO, MD – Today, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks announced a new median beautification program led by the Prince George’s County Department of Public Works & Transportation. The County Executive joined school and community leaders in the Woodlawn neighborhood to highlight the new program and discuss the importance of partnership between government, community members, schools, faith leaders, and other stakeholders to keep Prince George’s County clean and beautiful.
“We are excited to roll out this new program that will beautify neighborhoods and help us continue moving forward on our beautification efforts,” said Alsobrooks. “We must continue working together as a community to keep our County clean and beautiful. Litter doesn’t grow like grass, and every single one of us has a responsibility to pick up after ourselves, and to remind people close to us that they should do the same thing. The less we spend collecting litter, the more we can spend expanding programs that beautify medians, plant trees, and so much more in the future.”
The median beautification program revitalizes medians throughout the County by planting trees, shrubs, flowers, and ornamental grasses, helping beautify nearby communities. The Woodlawn neighborhood is one of 10 areas in the County that has benefitted from the new program. An additional eight medians across the County are also in the pipeline for this program. Current medians that are already complete include:
- Beltsville: Old Gunpowder Rd. & Ammendale Rd.
- Langley Park: Merrimac Dr. & New Hampshire Ave./12th Ave.
- College Park: Adelphi Rd. near Metzerott Rd.
- Woodlawn: Greenvale Pkwy. & 70th Pl.
- Bowie: Mitchellville Rd. at Elder Oaks Blvd.
- Bowie: Mount Oak Rd. at Church Rd.
- Landover: Garrett Morgan Blvd. & Morgan Blvd. Metro
- Landover: Garrett Morgan Blvd. & Riggs Way
- Largo: Campus Way S. and Prince Pl.
- Eagle Harbor: Banneker Blvd. & Trueman Point Rd.
“The County’s beautification program not only allows us to partner with the Department of the Environment and community residents, but it also instills or creates a greater sense of civic pride for their neighborhood,” said Director Michael Johnson, Department of Public Works & Transportation.
“The Department of the Environment is thrilled to see the progress of the Beautification Initiative throughout Prince George’s,” said Acting Director Adriana Caldarelli, Department of the Environment. “Expanded waste collection services combined with efforts to plant trees, improve water quality, and curb illegal dumping not only empowers everyone to be ‘Part of it, Proud of it,’ but also helps foster a sense of unity among residents and visitors alike.”
This new beautification program represents the latest step forward for one of the County Executive’s Proud Priorities, “Beautification.” The Alsobrooks Administration is committed to reducing litter to improve the health of the environment and aesthetics of the County, investing tens of millions of dollars into programs across government to beautify local communities. Some examples of those investments and programs include:
- PGC Composts
- Launched a countywide curbside composting program in 2022
- Distributed wheeled green carts to 75,000 households throughout the County to date to collect food scraps and yard trim
- Started the PGCPS pilot compost program, generating 1,236 tons of food scraps
- Bulky Trash
- Implemented an improved bulky trash collection system that reduced wait times to get bulky trash items collected
- Beautification Initiative
- Launched a Beautification Initiative in 2019
- Installed 64 BigBelly dual solar trash and recycling stations at bus stops throughout the County
- Street Sweeping
- Completed street sweeping on 1,285 miles during a litter blitz from September 2022-January 2023
- Expanding the program in 2024
- Litter Collection
- Collected more than 5,800 tons of litter from 2019-2022
- Right Tree, Right Place Program
- Planted 10,249 trees since the launch of the program in 2011
- Clean Lots Program
- Cleaned 224 blighted properties to date in 2023
Proud Priorities represent County Executive Alsobrooks’ commitment to building and maintaining a 21st century County Government infrastructure that meets the wholistic needs of Prince Georgians. The Proud Priorities fall under six categories: Education, Youth Development, Quality of Life, Economic Development, Healthy Communities, and Safe Neighborhoods. Of the 176 projects that have been identified, 164 are completed or ongoing.
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