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Baltimore’s proposed Red Line a hard sell for residents
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Baltimore’s proposed Red Line transit system would destroy the historic character of downtown, Fells Point and Canton neighborhoods, critics said.
Many of the 300 residents who turned out at the Baltimore Convention Center on Saturday for a meeting about the 12-mile line — pitched by city officials as vital to Baltimore’s future — said it needs to move underground to win their support.
“We don’t want a train rumbling through the neighborhood on the street,” Fells Point resident Anne Gummerson said. “And we don’t want the congestion it might cause either.”
City officials hope construction starts by 2010, and the state transportation planners are considering numerous options, including burying part of the line and running part of it above ground.
The line would go from Woodlawn through Fells Point and Canton to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. The city has secured $236 million in state and federal funding for the design phase. But total costs are estimated to be $1.2 billion to $2.4 billion, with the bulk financed by a federal mass-transit subsidy program called New Starts.
Sources close to the project said it faces stiff competition from other transportation initiatives, including Montgomery County’s Purple Line rail system in the Washington metro area.
The Red Line has been a priority of Mayor Sheila Dixon’s administration, which appointed a special “Red Line coordinator” in March.
Advocates for transit riders Saturday cited flaws in the proposed Red Line route, including gaps to the existing light rail and the added construction costs of digging new tunnels.
“Our proposal would use existing tunnels, so it will cost less,” said Ed Cohen, executive director of the Transit Riders Action Council.
Cohen’s organization is backing a north-to-south heavy rail line from West View to Camden Yards, then north up the St. Paul Corridor to Johns Hopkins University, a proposal state transit officials in March deemed too costly.
Cohen said his line would attract about 43,000 riders, more than the east-to-west line running from Security Square to Bayview Medical Center favored by state transit officials.
sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com
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david widdowson said:
look...i was raised in baltimore and i always thought it would have been easier to get around town with more subway lines, foget historics, bmore needs a better subway system, you people that fight it are selfish and ignorant and im willing to bet you have money like that to where you dont have to ride a bus or take the subway, not everybody has the money to buy or own a car not to mention the cost of baltimore city insurance and now gas prices, and whos to say the gas prices go down or go up, you never know, 2 years from now it could be 10 dollars a gallon, so people that aint got that kind of money cant keep up with that, a better subway system provides better opportunity for those people whether they live in the county or in the city, and yes basicly im sayin the subway should stretch to the county besides just northwest, plus subways provide shelter while waiting unlike buses from rain or cold so on and so forth, yes they have some shelter but not for alot of people, not all have 1
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Examiner Reader said:
this Examiner article does not provide much of a perspective on the Mayor's Summit which was well attended and covered a range of subjects beyond those mentioned here. How about and article on the station design discussions or the information shared by Mr Kemp from the Denver Regional Transit district?
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Tyler said:
The slant in that lead is horrendous. People bust the MTA on so many things but take a look at the Baltimore transit plan of the 60's. Heavy Rail all around, a Metro that actually *goes somewhere*, and a system less broken than the one we've got. But then the NIMBYists and the politicians came in and ruined it all. When the Light Rail went haywire recently, people were all blaming the MTA and everything when, if the powers that be actually funded them better (and didn't raid the transportation trust fund like a cookie jar), this would not have to happen. As for transit and crime, I work at a supermarket near a LR stop. Do things happen? Every now and then, sure, but the benefits--economic, social, environmental--outweigh all the risks. I want to see a politician in MD or in the federal government have the stones to actually say, "Quit whining. This needs to get done." The Red Line is an important project to better connect the city. When gas hits $6, you'll thank them.
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Examiner Reader said:
Using existing rail lines may work, but only if those lines are where present (or planned future) population and job centers exist. That's why the city's Light Snail system has such limited use. The cheapest system is not necessarily the best value or wisest choice. Regarding crime in DC's Metro system, most of it occurs at the stops at the end of the lines, which are all in the suburbs.
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Examiner Reader said:
are you naive enough to believe they actually care what you want? once baltimore city "government" or the surrounding counties make up their mind it is over. the meetings are required listening.you need to elect people who actually care ie. ron paul for president
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CroMagnon said:
Freddy, Most people in the neighborhoods who have attended the public meetings know about the details and are still against the alternatives yielded by THIS process. Dallas is TOO different from Baltimore to be comparable insofar as regional/rapid transit.
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Freddy in Fells said:
I totally support the Red Line. I moved here about three years ago from Dallas where we had the DART, which runs at surface through downtown and many different neighborhoods -- including a historic district. it seems to me that the Red Line can help with some of our problems, like -- why does everyone in Fells need to own two cars? Why are we choking on congestion down here? i wish people would give the red line a chance and hear the MTA out. so much of the negativity i've heard about the project comes from people who haven't really examined the details of the project -- and won't take the time to do so. go to www.baltimoreredline.com and learn the details, before you close your mind. if you then want to say "no" thats fine, but at least have some knowledge of why you are against it.
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judith myers said:
i have attended most of the RED LINE meetings and each time the state dept. of trans persons TURN A DEAF EAR TO ALL CONCEPTS EXCEPT THOSE THEY PRESENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! at one meeting during a canton community association meetinf i was told by a state worker that the only way to stop this was to get a politition involved. the powere that be are turn away from any concerns of the people of canton re the above and the new middle/high school at the current canton middle school. thou most of the people of canton are tax payers and provide the city with a good % of its tax revenue, the city acts as if we were all indigent and seem to ignore us unless they also want the alternative; take the light house point project where a developer want to build an extensive on a relative small portion of land. the city was against it as was the canton community association. it seems that the red line and the school are issues that we in canton will not win !!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Damian said:
In the DC metro area, even in the worst neighborhoods, you are more likely to be a victim of crime at metro stations than within the surrounding neighborhoods by the stations. Why? because there is a concentration of cars to break into, women alone, white-collar working people who have blackberries and not berettas, and groups of thugs can easily concentrate on victims en masse. Couple that with criminals being smart enough to not rob their neighbors and violà.
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Examiner Reader said:
Build it underground. And people, stop believing the crap that these systems increase crime. There's no statistical evidence to prove it, and all the statistical evidence to show that it's not true.
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Examiner Reader said:
If the state of Maryland prposes the plan they should move forward within the guidelines of the law. The residents of Fells Point and Canton should consider moving somewhere not affected by the plans. Many ohter residents deal with bus stops, Subway stations and lightrail trains all the time because there is nothing they can do about ti. Get over it.
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Examiner Reader said:
Build it along Fayette street and then swing it down around canton via the existing tracks by i-95. don't tear up canton and fells point.
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Examiner Reader said:
Baltimore county has Fright Rail now the Canton folks can have Fret Line.
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Downtown Darrel said:
I'm all for the red line. What I am not for is the proposed aerial tram which will duplicate red line service from Harbor East to the Convention Center. I would rather see a comprensive rail transit system than a ski lift which will ruin everyone's view of the Inner Harbor and all of the attractions located there. Kill the tram and build a rail system!
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Examiner Reader said:
if this is going to be put through the bad sections of the city then MTA needs a security force to allow riders to go safely and keep the trash off the line.
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Examiner Reader said:
Im all for the redline but first things first. Fix the existing issues with the current lightrail system. Then you can discuss building and east west transit system.
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Bill said:
$236 million - just for the design? Is it printed in gold leaf? That's seems exorbitant to me. Equally disturbing is that this proposed expansion will continue the ill-conceived trend in having Baltimore's vairous transit services lack any kind of convenient connection with one another. Is it really that difficult to come up with a way for riders to quickly and easily transfer between Light Rail, Metro, and/or MARC? There's also the pitfall that DC now finds itself in - a transit system built on getting people into and out of the city, while traffic patterns have change to the point where getting *around* the city is just as (if not more so) important.
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Examiner Reader said:
Considering how much Canton and Fells Point have been transformed in the past two decades, the preservation of character argument is almost entirely dubious. More likely, the residents don't want poor black people from west Baltimore showing up to eat and shop in their neighborhood. The new rail system should go underground whenever feasible, but more importantly, the system NEEDS to reach population and job centers. Baltimore's mass transit system is almost embarrassing as the STD and drug addiction rates, and the Redline would be a major step in rectifying this. Having the line end at Bayview would be shame, it should extend to Dundalk, Essex and Middle River, and the existing Metro line ought to extend out to White Marsh, and the proposed St Paul St line should make it's way up to Towson. Only then will Baltimore have a mass transit system that would be the same league as DC. It may cost a great deal of time and money, but it would be well worth it.
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Examiner Reader said:
I live in Fells Point, and I would love to have the Red Line. It would provide better access to downtown and the airport, and it would largely eliminate the parking problem we have today. The same Fells Point resident in the article is the resident who complains about trucks barreling through Fells Point. If you reduce congestion, you're only going to get more trucks, by adding a rail line, the truck "problem" will more than take care of itself.
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