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#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Baltimore/Washington Transit News & Proposals



MARC Train Number 70 by Arvin Jay, on Flickr


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The proposal for a much expanded and combined MARC/VRE system


The Baltimore subway/light rail plan


The plan for the DC metrorail


btw, I thought the silver line was supposed to follow the blue and orange lines from West Falls Church to Stadium/Armory instead of take it's own path through the center of the city
 
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#71 ·
In the BBJ article, its states that engineering could begin in the spring and construction would start in 2013. Does it take 4 years to do engineering/planning? I thought I read earlier that the line could be operating by that time. Although that might seem to ambitious. Has anyone seen any proposed timetable for planning, engineering and construction?
 
#77 ·
It COULD be running by 2013, depending.....Problem is that the State doesn't have any money to spend so starting depends on some sort of funding wild card like the Obama economic stimulus. Exact plans will depend on the State making a decision on where and how to build, not having too much neighborhood opposition and have some sort of massive Federal bag of money dropping out of the sky. At this point however, they have not even selected a route and we will have to wait at least until January for that bag of money.
 
#72 ·
I keep seeing different construction dates and every time I see one, they have pushed the starting date and the opening date even farther into the future. I don't think we should really take any of these estimates seriously at all.
 
#78 ·
Purple line news:

Light Rail Backed in Report on Purple Line
Montgomery Planners Like Route Near Trail

By Miranda S. Spivack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 23, 2008; Page B01

Montgomery County planners yesterday endorsed building a light rail system for the proposed east-west Purple Line and recommended running the trains mostly above ground and next to the Georgetown Branch Trail, a route heavily used by walkers and bicyclists.

The proposed 16-mile link between Montgomery and Prince George's counties would include as many as 22 stations at locations including Bethesda, Silver Spring, the Takoma and Langley Park areas, the University of Maryland's College Park campus and the New Carrollton Amtrak and Metro station.

"We have to grow, and we have to do it in a way that is sustainable," said Tom Autrey, the report's chief author. "The bottom line is that we have to take care of folks in these near suburbs so that we can experience growth in a reasonable way that is less dependent on the auto."

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) is expected to choose a Purple Line route early next year and determine whether to build a light rail system or a busway, a type of transit system that often uses dedicated bus lanes and whose vehicles get preference at traffic lights. The plan endorsed yesterday by the Montgomery County planning staff calls for a system that would cost about $1.2 billion in 2007 dollars. The staff report is advisory and must be reviewed by the Planning Board and County Council.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), a light rail proponent, also is expected to weigh in, but not until he completes an assessment of financing and other data, an aide said.

The Montgomery recommendation is expected to be well received in Prince George's and eastern Montgomery, where residents say they need something better than the slow-moving bus system that is their only east-west transit link to Silver Spring and Bethesda.

"The Purple Line will connect our communities, enhance economic opportunities, take cars off the road and be a great benefit to both counties," said Prince George's County Council member Eric Olson (D-College Park), who represents New Carrollton and surrounding communities.

But the proposal reignited controversy in some communities along the proposed route, whose residents worry that light rail would be a few steps from their back yards.

In Bethesda and Chevy Chase, a coalition of affluent communities, a country club and some trail advocates are pushing to bypass the trail route and create a more northerly alignment that would use rapid buses and terminate at the Medical Center Metro stop, next to the expanding National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

Planners instead recommended running the light rail next to the Georgetown Branch Trail, an extension of the Capital Crescent Trail, and proposed expanding the 10-foot-wide trail to 12 feet where possible. They also propose planting additional foliage and finding other ways to buffer neighborhoods from the light rail line.

The western terminus would be in downtown Bethesda, at an as-yet unopened south entrance to the Metro station near Woodmont and Bethesda avenues.

In Silver Spring, some residents near downtown are worried about street-level light rail near their homes and are urging that parts of the route be put underground.

Mark Gabriele, who heads a community association in a neighborhood north of downtown Silver Spring, said he thought a surface route would get caught in "downtown gridlock." Running the system underground in Silver Spring would be more efficient, he said.


In Bethesda, the rail line would use an existing tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue, sharing it with the walking and biking trail, and then follow the trail to Silver Spring. East of Silver Spring, the rail would operate mostly along streets.

Silver Spring would have three stops: at the Metro station at Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue; on 16th Street; and near a proposed library at Fenton and Wayne streets.

The planners dropped a proposed light rail station on Dale Drive, citing ridership studies. Some residents have been strongly opposed to the stop.

Pat Burda, a resident of the Town of Chevy Chase, is among those who favor placing the system closer to the naval hospital. She said the staff-endorsed proposal fails to address "the phenomenal amount of traffic" from the hospital expansion and calls for cutting down too many trees.

"The amount of trees that will be removed is quite devastating," she said.

Ben Ross, a transportation activist, lauded the Montgomery plan but said he thought it underestimated potential ridership.

By 2030, the cheapest busway is predicted to carry people on 40,000 trips daily, and the most expensive light rail line is estimated to reach 68,000 trips, according to a state study.

The state studied eight options, ranging from an $82 million plan to upgrade bus service to a $1.6 billion, high-end light rail system. Autrey said the $1.2 billion plan appears to be the most cost-effective when ridership, time spent traveling, construction and other factors are considered.

Autrey said the Purple Line had been the subject of substantial internal debate, with many staff members worried about the impact on the trail.

"I use the trail, but there are tradeoffs. It is a tough, tough decision, and we don't make this recommendation without understanding what the trail has become to many people," he said.
 
#80 ·
I think an east-west line further north could be a great asset for the city. At the current moment, the two sides of the JFX are completely barricaded from one another; a transit line may be successful is connecting the two sides, but there are some serious obstacles that would need to be dealt with.

First, it's not called for in the regional rail plan, which in and of itself would attract opposition. It would also probably require significantly more planning than the lines currently in the plan.

Second, as you mentined already, there are substantial practical difficulties because of the terrain and neighborhood layouts. There isn't really a single corridor or two corridors that could be utilized. The plan would require either that the line travel up and down a multitude of streets, which would make it slow and unwieldy, or that we convert minor streets into major boulevards, which would certainly come with community opposition. Both these problems could be solved by tunneling, but that's even more unlikely.

Perhaps the best solution would be to utilize a streetcar instead of a light rail (although as technologies change the two are becoming more and more similar). A single or double car tram could run through the streets of Charles Village and Waverly and along Druid Park Lake Drive or North Ave without causing much of a stir, or it could be routed through the park with less interference than a high speed line. It could also be linked to the Charles Street Trolley.

A third problem, however, is the lack of a natural start and end point for the line, and the reality that it doesn't really match up to natural traffic patterns. As much as I would love to be able to easily get from Waverly to Druid Hill Park, I don't think many people are making that trip, unless the areas get built up more. On the west end, Mondawmin is a natural starting point, but where should the line end on the east side? Should it stop at JHU? Travel across 33rd to Lake Montebello or Morgan State? Travel up Greenmount to Towson? I'm not quite sure where it make sense to stop, but it would almost inevitably have to turn north because there isn't a whole lot further east that would justify the line.
 
#81 · (Edited)
That is the biggest issue with trying to build transit lines one at a time. I think in every transit system there are "weak link" lines, lines that carry few people compared to the heavy lifter lines, but are still needed and necessary. When considered within the scope of a whole system, the heavy lifter lines can compensate for (and make possible) "weaker" lines, but when seeking funding and trying to build a line that runs through less dense areas it is much of the time impossible to justify the start up costs without the benefit of a strong existing system.

It is the same reason that the current Metro green line is criticized as the subway to "nowhere." Considered by itself, yes, it doesn't follow the grandest of paths, but in a cohesive system the green line, like all the lines, would become a gateway for its ridership. I also think the lack of a fully connected system is the only reason (even including blight/crime) that there has not been the typical development/redevelopment around our existing Metro stations--why build up Upton and Penn-North when the line can only draw from the 60,000ish people who live between Owings Mills and Hopkins who use the line each day. I like your idea; personally, I think every neighborhood in the city should be served by at least one, and in many cases, multiple metro stations. But those less traveled lines can only exist within the confines of a fully integrated transit system.

Oh, and I would probably terminate your proposed line in Towson. We need rail to the county seat pretty badly. I got jury duty a few years back while I lived with relatives in the county and it took me two hours by bus to get there. We need it whether it's via your plan or the proposed yellow line, but in either case I think the line needs to be heavy rail considering the distance.
 
#82 ·
http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/03/02/daily58.html

Thursday, March 5, 2009, 2:34pm EST
Transportation advocates call on Md. leaders to focus on transit
Baltimore Business Journal - by Daniel J. Sernovitz Staff

Transportation advocates called on Maryland’s elected leaders Thursday to focus more of its attention — and money — on the state’ public transit system as it grapples with ways to balance those projects with new roads and highways.

Representatives from the Maryland Public Interest Research Group and Central Maryland Transportation Alliance made their case for the transit projects, including the proposed Red Line in Baltimore, outside Penn Station Thursday morning.

The economy has severely dented Maryland’s ability to pay for all transportation projects, rail and road included. But if the state is going to make any progress in improving the state’s transportation network it needs to place more emphasis on trains and mass transit and less on new highways, said Kristi Horvath, policy associate with Maryland PIRG.

“Maryland is facing a transportation crisis as our roads get more crowded every day,” Otis Rolley III, president of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, said in prepared remarks at the Penn Station event. “We really need to make sure that we have a long-term, forward-looking plan.”

Horvath commended Gov. Martin O’Malley for using a substantial portion of the state’s federal stimulus money on making improvements to rail stations other transit projects. The governor’s plan for stimulus-funded transportation improvements includes $135 million for transit projects, according to the state transit administration. But Horvath said more needs to be done. The state has a long-range plan for new rail lines, but those projects have been delayed year after year due to budget cuts, she said.

“Now, we face many funding challenges in Maryland, especially in light of the economic downturn, but obtaining money for transportation improvements is only half the battle,” Horvath said in her prepared remarks. “Our state also needs a visionary, forward-looking plan for investing that money in ways that create and sustain a safe, affordable and extensive transportation system for the 21st century.”

Henry Kay, deputy administrator for the Maryland Transit Administration, said the real question is where the state will get the money to pay for the transit projects. The state’s approach has always been divided between keeping up the state’s existing roads and rails on one hand and building new highways and rail lines on the other. Kay, who spoke at the conference, said his department is doing all the design and planning work it can on new rail projects, including the Red Line, and is not yet at the point where it will either need to build the projects or delay them until money becomes available. The Red Line is estimated to cost $1.6 billion. A similar project in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, the Purple Line, is slated to cost $1.3 billion.

“What we’re trying to do is get them as ready as possible,” Kay said in a telephone interview.

Kay said it is not his department’s decision to determine whether rail or road projects should be funded first, and that those decisions are left to the governor and state transportation secretary.
 
#84 ·
http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/03/02/daily58.html

Thursday, March 5, 2009, 2:34pm EST
Transportation advocates call on Md. leaders to focus on transit
Baltimore Business Journal - by Daniel J. Sernovitz Staff

Transportation advocates called on Maryland’s elected leaders Thursday to focus more of its attention — and money — on the state’ public transit system as it grapples with ways to balance those projects with new roads and highways.

Representatives from the Maryland Public Interest Research Group and Central Maryland Transportation Alliance made their case for the transit projects, including the proposed Red Line in Baltimore, outside Penn Station Thursday morning.

The economy has severely dented Maryland’s ability to pay for all transportation projects, rail and road included. But if the state is going to make any progress in improving the state’s transportation network it needs to place more emphasis on trains and mass transit and less on new highways, said Kristi Horvath, policy associate with Maryland PIRG.
A lot of the transit lines we see on maps is such a pipe dream that we might as well take another step in the dream. I really think that the biggest weakness in Baltimore's transit progress is the fact that the MTA is one modal administration of a State agency that has most of its mission in being responsible for highways. What we need is an agency that has Baltimore transit as its one and only reason for living. As it is, we stand in line along with a third Bay Bridge, improvements to roads in Garrett county, harbor improvements, a toll agency that acts as an investment bank for State projects, and the airport. As an agency, MDOT has the responsibility of meeting the needs of the entire State and Baltimore is only a small part of that. That's why we need something like DC's WMATA, that only deals with transit and needs to justify its existence based on how transit progress is made.
 
#83 ·
the idea for a northern east-west line was a daydream that came from looking at the map of proposed rail on the first page of this thread. i realize this is entirely theoretical and it will most likely not happen in my lifetime, but the point is it would connect with the current metro rail at mondawmin, the current light rail stop at woodberry, the proposed yellow line (which would go to towson) at waverly, and maybe the proposed green line (an extension of the existing metro) at 33rd street. this would make using the transit system at all much more practical because you wouldn't have to go south to downtown in order to make a connection to come back north. given baltimore's high rate of bus ridership compared to other cities, i don't think finding riders would be a problem. but alas, i realize that this all costs money, and there is not much of that to be found these days. perhaps obama would have helped us get this thing going if the economy hadnt blown up.
 
#87 · (Edited)
Thursday, April 16, 2009, 2:44pm EDT
Fed to invest $13 billion in nationwide high-speed rail project
Baltimore Business Journal

Four months after unveiling a high-speed rail plan for the United States, the federal government is now allocating money to get the ball rolling.

The White House and the U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday said it will invest $8 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and $1 billion a year for five years as a down payment to develop a passenger rail system and put the transportation policy on the right track.

Maryland is one of the states where rail corridors would be established.

Overall, the program will have 10 high-speed rail corridors that would be potential recipients of federal funding. Those lines are: California, Pacific Northwest, Chicago Hub Network, Florida, Southeast, Keystone, Empire and Northern New England. Also, opportunities exist for the Northeast Corridor from Washington to Boston to compete for funds to improve the nation’s only existing high-speed rail service.

“A major new high-speed rail line will generate many thousands of construction jobs over several years, as well as permanent jobs for rail employees and increased economic activity in the destinations these trains serve,” President Barack Obama said in a statement. “High-speed rail is long overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways.”

There will be two types of projects for funding under the government’s plan -- create new corridors for world-class high-speed rail like that found in Europe and Japan, and make train service along existing rail lines incrementally faster.

Funding for the projects would be broken down by:

• Individual projects: Providing grants to complete individual projects that are “ready to go” with completed environmental and preliminary engineering work — with an emphasis on near-term job creation. Eligible projects include acquisition, construction of or improvements to infrastructure, facilities and equipment.

• Corridor programs: Developing entire phases or geographic sections of high-speed rail corridors that have completed corridor plans, environmental documentation and have a prioritized list of projects to help meet the corridor objectives. • Planning: Entering into cooperative agreements for planning activities (including development of corridor plans and state rail plans) using non-American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) appropriations funds. This third approach is intended to help establish a structured mechanism and funding stream for future corridor development activities.

Funds could be awarded as early as this summer, according to the government.


http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/04/13/daily43.html?surround=lfn

http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/31

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Thursday, April 16, 2009, 2:29pm EDT
$20M in stimulus funding slated for Baltimore Metro Subway work
Baltimore Business Journal - by Daniel J. Sernovitz Staff

The Maryland Transit Administration said Thursday it would spend $20 million in improvements to the Baltimore Metro Subway with funds from the federal stimulus package.

The work will include overhauling train wheel assemblies and installing a new public address system at the city rail stations, the MTA said in a news release.

“To create an environment where people choose transit, we must make the experience as reliable and customer-friendly as possible,” Gov. Martin O’Malley said in a statement about the projects.

The state Board of Public Works approved a $15.2 million contract to Hornell, N.Y.-based TTA Systems LLC to undertake the wheel assembly work. It approved a second contract for $4.1 million to International Display Systems Inc., of Dayton, Ohio, for the public address systems, which will feature new audio and electronic message signs to inform riders about delays, service updates and safety messages.

The MTA expects the work will begin this summer but did not disclose a specific date. Combined, the projects are expected to support 600 jobs.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/04/13/daily40.html?surround=lfn
 
#88 ·
While coming and going, I've noticed people with trucks and helmets poking around at the Falls Road light rail stop lately, spray paining stuff on the pavement, etc. I saw in the list of "shovel ready" MDOT projects that they are going to spend 2.3 million on the parking lot there. Looks like they are going to start. I don't know just how they can spend 2.3 mill on a parking lot, but I guess we will see.
 
#91 ·
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.canton26apr26,0,5613135.story

Canton residents oppose transit plan
But light rail line down Boston Street has official backing

By Michael Dresser
April 26, 2009

Once a gritty neighborhood on Southeast Baltimore's industrial waterfront, Canton has transformed itself into a model of urban chic where million-dollar townhouses overlook the harbor and destination night spots surround O'Donnell Square.

But many residents of the resurgent community worry that the city's preferred route for an east-west transit line would cut off Canton from the water, drag down property values and compound the area's already serious traffic and parking problems. They're organizing to oppose the plan known as Alternative 4-C - which has powerful support and could well be chosen when the Maryland Transit Administration decides this summer.

That route calls for construction of a light rail line between Woodlawn in the west and Bayview in the east. The line would run in a tunnel under downtown and Fells Point. But it would rise from the depths on Aliceanna Street and run on the surface along Boston Street - the broad avenue that separates the luxury waterfront development to the south from the trendy night spots and the Safeway and Starbucks on the north.

The Canton Community Association took a formal position in December opposing Alternative 4-C, the proposal that has won the backing of the Dixon administration, Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith and the Greater Baltimore Committee, among others.

Darryl J. Jurkiewicz, president of the community group and a lifelong Canton resident, said running above-ground trains on Boston Street doesn't make sense. "We all agree we need more and better mass transit, but if you're not going to do it right, it shouldn't be done."

Ben Rosenberg, a lawyer who lives along the Canton waterfront, is convinced that Alternative 4-C would "debase" if not "destroy" his neighborhood.

"I have yet to find somebody [in Canton] who says they're in favor of this thing," he said. "The feeling in Canton is whatever you do, do it underground. ... If that breaks the bank, wait till the bank fills up."

The problem is that, for now at least, an alternative that includes a tunnel under Boston Street probably would break the bank. MTA officials say all that tunneling would put the Red Line project far outside the cost-benefit formulas rigorously applied by the federal government.

In their opposition to surface light rail, the mostly white, relatively wealthy residents of Canton share a common cause with the predominantly African-American, much less affluent residents of the Edmondson Avenue corridor in West Baltimore.

There, too, many residents are demanding that the Red Line go underground if it is built. On both sides of town, many residents prefer the "no build" alternative to the surface rail called for in Alternative 4-C.

In theory, the MTA could propose a tunnel on one side of town but not the other. But that is not likely. The Canton and Edmondson Village areas are the ends of a teeter-totter in a racial and political balancing act.

Baltimore political leaders and transportation officials understand that favoring Canton over West Baltimore would hit a nerve in the city's African-American community, where people remember well that many black residents were displaced in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for a highway that ultimately wasn't built.

Henry Kay, the MTA's deputy administrator for planning, said the agency is acutely aware of that history. "We take that very seriously because we understand the legacy of those issues."

He also noted that federal law prohibits discrimination among communities on the basis of race or relative wealth. "If we study an expensive [alternative] like tunneling, we have to make sure it's going to be equitable."

That need for equity turns on its head one of the arguments against 4-C made by Canton residents - that they contribute a disproportionate share of the city's tax base. Kay said the MTA is legally precluded from taking that into account.

The 14-mile Red Line, which has been the subject of community meetings for several years, is the city's No. 1 transit priority. Planners have looked at both light rail and "express bus" alternatives, but over the past year a rough consensus has formed on using light rail, partially underground, in the plan known as Alternative 4-C.

For now, however, about a dozen alternatives remain in play, including the option of building nothing. The MTA is expected to recommend a specific plan to Gov. Martin O'Malley this summer.

The governor's choice will be sent to the Federal Transit Administration. If the federal government approves the project, it would cover half the cost. A federal decision is expected in 2010 or 2011, and construction could begin about 2012. According to the MTA, the line could open in 2015 or 2016.

The Dixon administration is unequivocal in its support for the $1.6 billion Alternative 4-C. City officials contend that the Red Line would ease rather than exacerbate Canton's traffic problems by making the area less attractive as a through route, especially for trucks.

Jamie Kendrick, deputy director of the city transportation department, said inaction on the Red Line would bring further congestion to the streets of Southeast Baltimore. He said a city traffic analysis projects that without the transit line, every intersection on Boston Street would be in gridlock by 2020.

That hasn't stopped Canton activists from pressing their case. More than a dozen neighborhood residents gathered recently at the Captain James restaurant, a ship-shaped building where Aliceanna runs into Boston, to meet with a reporter. All voiced objections to a surface line on Boston Street.

Jack Stout, a community association board member who lives on Ellwood Avenue, compared the fight against surface light rail to the community's successful fight against the extension of Interstate 83 through Canton. "I see this as our generation's Battle of the Highway."

Caroline Burkhart, who lives in Canton Square "in the heart of the mess," fears that light rail would bring noise, vibration and ugliness to the neighborhood. "No one wants to live next to a train," she said. "Our property value is going to deteriorate."

But the opposition in Canton is not unanimous. Some residents would welcome a rail transit connection and don't care whether it is on the surface or in a tunnel.

Christina Martin, who lives about six blocks from the waterfront on Streeper Street, said she and her husband are "very excited" about the prospect of riding the Red Line. She dismissed concerns that a light rail line would harm property values. "You look at D.C. Your property is worth a lot more if you're next to a Metro line," she said.

Martin, who said her street is frequently jammed with the cars of patrons of O'Donnell Square restaurants and bars, said the Red Line could ease parking problems by letting people visit Canton without their cars. She added that she and her husband would explore other areas of the city more if they could do so by rail.

The 29-year-old nurse practitioner believes some of the divide over the Red Line is the result of a generation gap.

"When you talk to the older generation, they are really opposed to it," she said. "Young people on our block are very much for it."
 
#93 ·
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.canton26apr26,0,5613135.story

Canton residents oppose transit plan
But light rail line down Boston Street has official backing

By Michael Dresser
April 26, 2009

Once a gritty neighborhood on Southeast Baltimore's industrial waterfront, Canton has transformed itself into a model of urban chic where million-dollar townhouses overlook the harbor and destination night spots surround O'Donnell Square.
considering all the oppositions, there's no way this is gonna' get done by 2013.:eek:hno:
 
#94 ·
What happened to all that money for tunneling. I understand the need to use money fiscally responsibly, but I still don't understand why there isn't 100s of billions of dollars available to build tunnels for cities and jurisdictions that desire that option. Silver Line by Dulles go shafted the same way.

Cause once its built its statospherically unlikely someone is going to come and say we should have done the other way. At the very least need to build trains without the cantilever.

Its unfortunate for Canton and Woodlawn.
 
#96 ·
There hasn't been money to build lots of tunnels any time since the DC subway. They cost about a half billion per mile if there are no complications like unexpected rocks, cave ins, explosions but everybody with transit aspirations wants them so the feds have been only giving out subway/transit tunnel money to expand heavily used systems. The problem with trains without the cantilever is that third rail systems can't be crossed by cars or pedestrians so they have to be dedicated rights of way. On the other hand, canti systems require higher (more expensive) tunnels so the tunnels are short.
 
#102 ·
The Maryland MTA is aware of this technology, and said they would consider it depending on costs and reliability (it's a new tech).

The problem with Canton is they see the train as a congestion engine, not a traffic reduction / economic engine. By 2020, Boston St in Canton will be completely grid-locked from 6am-10pm. I think running a train down Boston St. will reduce its use as a commuter route, and increase its use as a local "main street." The other argument, that it will be harder to get to the waterfront, is just ludicrous. Now you have to dodge cars and trucks anyways, whats a regularly scheduled train going to do to make that worse?

The Canton arguments are NIMBYism plain and simple. They have no merit, and I can't wait personally to get on a train and visit the Canton night life without having to take a 40 minute bus.
 
#107 ·
I was looking at the Baltimore regional rail plan and the configuration of the lines doesn't seem to address some important places/neighborhoods. Among them, it appears that Federal Hill and Druid Hill Park have no direct service. That is a serious mistake in my estimation. The first thing that jumped out at me was the routing of the yellow line. It follows the existing light rail configuration through Baltimore County before the proposed routing leads it through north Baltimore, Midtown, and downtown before it again meets with the existing light rail routing and an extension to Columbia. I would rather see the routing of the yellow line begin either at the proposed "Beltway North" station or in Towson. The heavy rail line would follow the proposed routing (but also with stops at Loyola and Notre Dame, if possible) until linking at Charles Center. After the proposed Inner Harbor stop the routing again follows the existing light rail configuration. Instead I would like to have the line run south with stops in Federal Hill, South Baltimore, Brooklyn, and Curtis Bay, with it extending into the county if they want it.

But even more important is Druid Hill Park. It is one of the most glaringly underused places in the entire city and it appears it will remain that way. The park should be a focal point when building a transit system; transporting residents and tourists alike to our historic urban park benefits everyone--including the zoo, which would be the biggest winner of all. I think providing the park with transit service would require another northwest line, which is needed anyway in my estimation--another under appreciated historic gem is located in isolation from transit in NW Baltimore--Pimlico Race Course. A surface light rail line could work in this situation, as most of NW Baltimore is a blank slate to be redeveloped--less densely populated, almost suburban in nature at times, and without a huge number of historic buildings to preserve. The line would probably use tunnels through Druid Hill Park and some of the neighborhoods of W. Baltimore it could serve before coming to the surface at the Inner Harbor to create a transit link point and as a way of visually coaxing tourists onto the trains and up to the park. I guess it isn't feasible, but continuing the line to Locust Point and Fort McHenry would be ideal, as it is another historic point of interest that would benefit from easy access from visitors. Just some thoughts; I'm probably crazy. :)
 
#110 · (Edited)
I think there's something in the agreement that created the North Central bike/hike trail that hypothetically the State could take it for a rail line if they wanted, but the likelihood of it ever happening before robots take over the world and turn us into batteries is pretty small. The Glendenning-era rail plan, which had about 30 years worth of transit projects and was fairly grandiose didn't even show it. For the foreseeable future, we will probably have to live with the LR and the Rabbit Bus if you need to get to York.
 
#118 ·
Heavy rail has a third rail, and must be grade separated (meaning it either must run elevated, underground, or on a separate right-of-way with bridges or tunnels through every crossing).

This makes it prohibitively expensive, especially when running it, say, along the red line or yellow line ROW, because it would have to be extensively tunneled.*

*some believe with the red line, since tunneling is already occurring, this might not be the case, but overall, heavy rail is significantly more expensive. It's also significantly better.
 
#124 ·
It's close enough for a transit thread on a quiet day. Penn Station is a nice building but it needs help, like a hotel to take up the dead space in those upper floor windows. Throw in a new food place and while it won't be like Union Station in DC, it will be much more of an asset for MARC riders.
 
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