Baltimore Red Line Underground

Baltimore Redline Underground strongly supports improved, intelligent and efficient mass transit for the people of Baltimore. But surface light rail on the residential sections of Edmondson Avenue and Boston Street (Red Line Alternative 4-C) is not the way to get it. Among the reasons for our opposition are:

1. In 1995 our Federal, State and City governments spent 17.2 million of dollars to remove rail tracks, remove wires, and widen Boston Street’s traffic lanes.  Now they want to spend millions more to put down tracks, narrow lanes, and slow down traffic. When will the city stop wasting money by acting without sensible planning?
2. Neither Edmondson Avenue nor Boston Street were designed for a double-tracked surface light rail system and they are too narrow for one. Squeezing rail tracks onto these streets will send traffic into surrounding neighborhoods and increase traffic jams.
3. Both Edmondson Avenue and Boston Street are major arteries for east-west traffic and are already congested. How will police, fire and ambulance move across the waterfront when the streets are even more congested?
4. Left turns will be prohibited long the tracks. How will businesses fare when patrons have to travel blocks out of their way just to cross Boston or Edmondson? How will people get home?
5. Our neighbors have young children. A light rail will make these heavily-traveled streets even more hazardous for our children and their families. Track crossings are dangerous – two teenagers died on light rail tracks this month in Baltimore.
6. The light rail may not be safe for riders or vehicles sharing the street. Studies have shown that riding light rail is less safe than driving in urban areas. Furthermore, to cut costs the MTA is proposing a single-lane “death trap” tunnel under Cooks Lane. Do we want America’s most dangerous transit system here?
7. The surface plan creates an eyesore – a 150-yard tunnel opening in the middle of Canton and on Edmondson Avenue. Sidewalks will be narrowed, trees and medians will be removed, and an overhead web of wires built to accommodate the trains.
8. The City has promised communities before that the light rail would revitalize them. For instance, the city said that Light Rail will “Improve the economic vitality and encourage quality redevelopment of the Howard Street Corridor.” Now storefronts are vacant. The Baltimore Sun said the merchants there were “duped” by an over-optimistic plan that failed. Sound familiar?
9. Studies show that most light rail riders will only use public transit within 4 blocks from their homes. A route farther to the north would draw people from north and south. Running a train along the waterfront cuts the number of prospective riders by half.
10. Alternative 4C has poor connections with existing transit. To change between Baltimore’s subway system and the Red Line will require a 2-block walk. This is the most distant connection proposed since 1950.
11. The proposed Red Line will only average about 12 mph when above ground, slowing the system to an overall average of 20mph. Our current underground metro subway system averages 30 mph. The proposed system will also be able to carry less than half as many passengers as our current system.
12. Some tunnels required for 4C would be built directly under houses, rather than under the street. This includes the neighborhoods around Little Italy, Aliceanna Street, The North Shore, and Edmondson Avenue near the Cooks lane tunnel. Will that be good for homeowners?

We urge you to reject the MTA’s recommendation of Alternative 4C which calls for surface light rail on Edmondson Avenue and Boston Street. There are better alternatives including MTA’s alternative 4D and putting alternative 4C underground in residential neighborhoods. There are also better alternatives that the MTA has not considered including heavy rail subway systems proposed by TRAC and the CAC. Baltimore is a great city. It deserves great mass transit.