Baltimore Red Line Underground

Did they fudge it?

MTA uses math tricks to fudge the federal formula.

Governor O’Malley completed the state’s expected pantomime Tuesday, choosing the $1.6 billion-plus Red Line Alternative 4C as the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA). It was chosen partially because it’s the most “viable,” meaning that it’s closest to meeting preferred cost standards for Federal money. Their numbers have improved 24% since than the last time the project was formally evaluated.

But you have to wonder – what did the MTA do to 4C to approach that preferred standard?

One way was to cut corners on the project. Making a single-track “Death Trap tunnel” under Cooks Lane is reckoned to save perhaps $70 million. But single tracking is an option the MTA rejected before because it causes, in their own words, “Longer travel times – this is due to the need to wait for trains in the opposing direction; Less frequent service – resulting in a less convenient, attractive service; Lower passenger capacity due to less frequent service, not allowing for future ridership growth, and overall operational and maintenance flexibility.”

What all that means is that the system is less reliable and slower. The end-to-end travel time has now increased to a sluggish 44 minutes, an average speed of 19mph.
Read more…

DC Metro Crash "Worst Disaster in Metro History" kills 9. Image from WJLA, Washington, June '09.

The MTA has  scrambled to cut costs for the Red Line Alternative 4C to make the project qualify for Federal funds. One controversial plan would put a single-track tunnel under Cooks Lane. Edward Cohen, a member of the Red Line CAC and of TRAC, recently wrote a letter to Congressman Cummings expressing his opposition to this tunnel for reasons of safety (click to read). It is shocking how dangerous this tunnel would be.

Mr. Cohen explained that this is a “death trap tunnel” with three blind corners and trains coming from both directions at speeds of 50mph. This creates the possibility of a 100-mph collision and a multiple train pileup! No other rail in the U.S. has seen fit to build such a risky tunnel.

Read more…

A "portal" where the train enters a tunnel

Boston Street and Edmondson Avenue are both landscaped urban boulevards, with wide medians, sidewalks grass and trees. We have tried to collect pictures from other parts of the country of projects similar to if the proposed Red Line.

Unfortunately, we can’t. Now city in the U.S. has tried to squeeze two tracks into such a tight, heavily trafficked space.

What other cities have done is to run trains in low-traffic areas away from residential streets.

And they are usually in places where cars have an alternate route. But that is not the case with Alternative 4C. For instance, Edmondson Avenue is the only truck route into Baltimore between Wilkins Avenue and Reisterstown Road, and Boston Street is the only truck route into East Baltimore south of US-40. There is no good alternative for either.

Our closest comparisons to Baltimore may be  Seattle’s MLK Jr. Way and Portland’s Burnside Street. These are still a far cry from Alternative 4C in Baltimore for the following reasons:

• These streets carry less traffic and there are alternate routes for vehicles
• The streets are wider, with few houses.  Most areas are industrial or low-density commercial
• The light’s rail right-of-way is wider: in both cases it measures 26-28 feet, where Edmonson is proposed at 22.5 feet and Boston 23-24 feet
• Traffic is farther from the trains. No light rail system including Baltimore’s Howard Street system has been built with cars and trains so close to each other or to vehicles.

Here are what the rails there look like:

Read more…