Baltimore County wasted more than $125,500 in traffic-calming funding on projects riddled with errors, policy violations and conflicts of interest, according to a report released Monday by the county’s inspector general.

The investigation by Inspector General Kelly Madigan was prompted by a series of complaints her office received from April 2024 to February 2025 about the county’s Neighborhood Traffic Management Program.

The program was operated by two unnamed Baltimore County employees, a manager and an associate, who worked for the traffic-calming unit in the Department of Public Works and Transportation.

The report shows county funds were wasted on multiple crosswalks installed in the wrong locations, speed humps placed on roads that didn’t meet the program’s qualifications and a complete lack of oversight.

“The investigation showed the Program Manager was personally involved in a traffic calming project on [redacted] where they and members of their family owned properties,” Madigan wrote in a letter to Baltimore County Administrative Officer D’Andrea L. Walker.

That manager, who initially agreed to meet May 29 with investigators from the Office of the Inspector General, sent an email two days before and declined to participate.

The longtime county employee resigned on May 30.

Additionally, the report found various projects did not comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) nor meet county standards.

Dakarai Turner, press secretary for Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier, wrote a statement on behalf of Klausmeier’s administration acknowledging the report.

“Responsible stewardship of taxpayer funds remains a top priority for County Executive Klausmeier,” the statement read. “The administration has closely reviewed this report and — in addition to verifying that work was completed appropriately in some areas — identified areas for opportunities to strengthen oversight and improve internal protocols while building on existing improvements already underway.”

Crosswalks and crossed wires

The report describes two instances in which raised crosswalks were improperly installed in Baltimore County despite being approved by a county inspector.

The first project was supposed to improve an existing crosswalk in front of Victory Villa Elementary School in Middle River — instead a new crosswalk was installed nearly a mile away at the intersection of Compass Road and Cord Street.

While another crosswalk eventually was built near the school, neither was ADA-compliant and they cost the county nearly $21,000, according to the report.

In a Rosedale project, the county spent over $27,000 to build and then remove a crosswalk on Kenwood Avenue after discovering the street was state-owned.

The report shows funding for both of those crosswalk projects (and an additional 48 crosswalk improvements near schools) came from the county’s $1.25 million budget allocation to its school safety initiative.

Madigan noted that the unnamed employee who managed the program was responsible for that entire $1.25 million budget, but never established a formal business process for the initiative nor reported to any supervisor.

The program manager cost the county another nearly $78,000 installing various traffic-calming devices, like speed humps, in neighborhoods and on residential streets that did not qualify for the measures based on county standards.

This included a speed hump built on a street where the program manager and their family owned property.

“At a minimum, this resulted in the appearance of a conflict of interest if not an actual conflict of interest,” Madigan wrote. “The Office also has concerns that the Program Manager had speed humps installed in front of properties without getting written consent from the adjacent property owners, which was required under the Program.”

No oversight

Over the course of several interviews with Department of Public Works and Transportation and other county employees, Madigan uncovered the unnamed program manager received “less supervision” because the individual was a “long-time County employee whose duties were very specialized.”

“Regardless, this lack of active supervision of the Program Manager resulted in many of the errors and other issues highlighted in this report going unnoticed,” the inspector general wrote.

Additionally, the inspector general’s report raised concerns that the lack of oversight was exacerbated by inconsistent to nonexistent recordkeeping.

Turner confirmed the traffic unit’s former program manager resigned on May 30, but said the county cannot not reveal personnel information, including the employee’s identity.

Walker did not address specific claims Madigan raised about the former employee in her official response to the inspector general.

She only wrote that “it should be noted that the Employee mentioned in the report is no longer an employee of Baltimore County.”

“To ensure projects are handled with the appropriate expertise, specific responsibilities have been reassigned,” Walker said

Recommendations and responses

Madigan recommended Baltimore County review all the projects completed under the $1.25 million school safety initiative managed by the former program manager.

Walker suggested some of Madigan’s ADA compliance concerns were not relevant because adding crosswalks does not alter existing sidewalks or areas without sidewalks.

“Many of the example photos shown by the OIG during the interview process were locations where there is no existing sidewalk, and therefore no existing ADA ramp,” the county administrative officer wrote. “The County did not alter the existing lack of sidewalk and therefore did not add ramps to a non-existent sidewalk.”

However, Walker said the Department of Public Works and Transportation will review all the school safety initiative projects by Jan. 31, including for ADA compliance.

She said the department also will conduct a financial review and ensure employees receive additional ADA training with the state and the University of Maryland’s transportation center.

In response to Madigan’s recommendation that the department increase communication with the county, Walker said “specific responsibilities have been reassigned.”

Turner did not elaborate on what those responsibilities are.

According to the report, Walker said a new manual and updated traffic-calming policies will be posted on the county website by the end of the year.