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Senator seeks answers for lost Red Line funding
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - As Maryland Transit Administration officials scramble to restore lost federal funding for the planning phase of Baltimore’s proposed Red Line bus or light rail system, a Maryland senator is seeking an explanation for how the funds were allowed to lapse.
“Senator [Barbara] Mikulski will work to restore the funding once we receive a formal request from the state transportation,” said Mikulski spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz.
“But she would also like an explanation as to why these funds were not spent on time.”
In their quest to recover the lost $2 million in federal money earmarked for studying alternatives to the proposed route from Security Square Mall in Woodlawn to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, MTA officials have pinned their hopes on a 2009 Transportation Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill now awaiting passage in Senate, sources said.
However, sources close to Mikulski said she was livid that MTA officials did not inform her of design delays that led to the loss of the $2 million.
Mikulski’s furor came after MTA officials admitted to a series of bureaucratic snafus. State transit officials were alerted to the paperwork lapse last month in a phone call from the Federal Transit Administration, the sources said.
Mikulski, a strong supporter of the proposed $1.2 billion Red Line, reaffirmed her commitment.
“She will continue to fight for funding,” Schwartz said.
A spokesman for state Transportation Secretary John Porcari said changes made to the preliminary designs, including extending the route 1.2 miles to Bayview, resulted in delays.
“We plan to provide a detailed explanation to Maryland’s congressional delegation as to why the timeline changed for the projects,” Jack Calahan said.
With Red Line funding in jeopardy, transit advocates expressed concern that the planning process may give short shrift to studying alternatives.
“It seems like they walked into the design process with a preconception,” said Edward Cohen, executive director of the Transit Riders Action Council, which has proposed using heavy rail and existing tunnels along a route that would head toward Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus.
“They were supposed to study four alternatives, and they only looked at one.”
sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
10:01 AM MST on Tue., Jun. 17, 2008 re: "Senator seeks answers for lost Red Line funding"
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Examiner Reader said:
Stephen Janis does it again. Be careful, ex, somebody might hire him away.
1 agree | 1 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
mobtown desperately needs a real transit system -- all great cities of the world have them -- and this story perhaps illustrates part of the reason it probably won't get one anytime soon. step up, sheila.
2 agree | 1 disagree
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the #10 is a methadone clinic said:
on wheels, balt'moron.
2 agree | 2 disagree
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Adam Meister said:
Ed and Nate are correct. Everyone should look up Baltimore TRAC and study their plan. We need heavy rail!
22 agree | 23 disagree
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baltimoron said:
I use the number 10 bus, which is great, but a faster method for getting from Canton to downtown would be awesome! If you could add a park and ride at the East and West ends to clear up the East/West traffic on Boston, Aliceanna and Fleet streets, Baltimore might begin to look like a functional metropolitan area!
15 agree | 16 disagree
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Harry said:
I-70 was originally planned to go right down into the city - that's why the "highway to nowhere" in Baltimore, where HBO shoots a lot, was built. But politics got in the way of finishing it. I-70 should be finished, if for no other reason than to take pressure off the I-695 SW area. Baltimore has always been weak in east-west public transport. They need to do something.
17 agree | 19 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
For the love of God, can they please build a heavy rail underground from east to west?
13 agree | 12 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Look the city is drug infested and has crime on almost every corner. Let her hire who ever she wants. If I were mayor i would burn that town to the ground
21 agree | 22 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
is it just me or am i right in thinking dixon dont like to hire whites if she can help it.
22 agree | 26 disagree
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