The city of Aberdeen has been awarded a federal grant of nearly $800,000 designed to help draw commuters to its Amtrak-MARC train station.

Officials say the money will pay for renovations at the 74-year-old station, including new benches, bike racks, signs, landscaping and anti-crime features such as improved lighting.

Grant money will also fund sidewalk connections where there may be breaks, making them more easily accessible to people in wheelchairs, and also adding sidewalks along East Bel Air Avenue and Polk Street near the station.

Lighting will be added where there isn’t any, and signage will also be installed.

“It’s to connect people to transit or to pedestrian walkways,” said Phyllis Grover, Aberdeen’s director of planning and community development.

The federal Transportation Alternatives Program grant comes through the Maryland State Highway Administration, and is dispersed by the Baltimore Metropolitan Regional Transportation Board.

Program funds are generally targeted for projects that boost alternatives to driving, including infrastructure projects to improve access to public transportation, as well as facilities accommodating pedestrians and bicycles.

Aberdeen applied for the grant in the spring.

Randy Robertson, Aberdeen city manager, said officials hope the $796,342 grant will help make the local station more accessible and attractive to commuters.

“It’s a big amount of money and, from my perspective, it will have a tremendously positive impact on the community and getting people to consider commuting,” Robertson said.

Earlier this year other aspects of the station underwent improvements through a separate project: A pedestrian bridge over railroad tracks received a facelift and walls were coated with grafitti-resistant paint. In addition, a new security camera was installed on the overpass to monitor activity.

“On top of the $300,000 for inside the station a few months ago, what you’ll see is a completely new train station in the not-too-distant future,” Robertson said.

Grover said the exterior upgrades will not only make the station more pedestrian-friendly but will “beautify the area.”

“It will be great for the area around the station, the commuters who use it on a daily basis and the residents who live around it,” she said.

ecompton@baltsun.com