Jun 12 2007
Baltimore’s Red Line Project
The city is currently studying a plan to build a 10.5 mile subway project running east to west connecting Canton through downtown and West Baltimore to Woodlawn. Stops are proposed in Fells Point, downtown, and other highly trafficked areas. The study and analysis has been under way since 2003, and is scheduled to continue through 2008. Construction would begin in 2012 and be completed in 2016. Of course with the way these projects generally evolve, it would be amazing if the Baltimore Red Line became a reality before 2020.
It’s not clear how much of the red line would be above or below ground. But obviously most of the proposed route would need to be under ground. The projected route certainly will be connecting some diverse (racially, socially, financially) neighborhoods. It will be interesting to see what that does to property prices around the new stations. In DC areas sometimes flourish after metro stops open in that neighborhood. In many cases close proximity to a metro stop becomes a prerequisite for redeveloping and gentrifying areas.
One of Baltimore’s biggest weaknesses as a city is the lack of good public transportation. I sometimes have to call and wait 25 minutes for a cab to show up. And I only live 5 minutes from downtown. I have lived or worked in the city for close to 8 years, and I have still yet to set foot on the Baltimore metro. I have never had the need or desire. With this project Baltimore is certainly heading in the right direction. With projects like this maybe more Baltimoreans will start to use the cities metro system - or at least realize we have one.
5 Comments to “Baltimore’s Red Line Project”
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Wow - hadn’t heard about this, surprised since it’s been in the works for quites a while now. Baltimore’s metro system definitely is underutilized, underfunded, and under appreciated. It’s only convenient for residents of a few areas.
Yeah I haven’t heard or read much about this project - probably because it’s still in the feasability phase - and won’t become reality for so long - if ever.
[...] the existing underused Baltimore metro system. We recently looked at the current study of the metro red line project. Why not expand on this? A separate trolley system would result in yet another disjointed [...]
Just a correction on your post: Subway is unfortunately not being considered for the Red Line. The Ehrlich administration did not allow the MTA to even study a subway option on the basis that it would be too costly. The options being considered are Light Rail, Bus Rapid Transit (adding yet another mode for transit in Baltimore), or Enhanced Bus Service. Amusingly, both Light Rail and Bus Rapid Transit would require underground tunneling around downtown, bringing the cost of the project to about that of a subway line.
Anyway, rants aside, check out the project’s website at http://www.baltimoreredline.com.
Thanks for the clarification Will. I was confused how they were going to run Light Rail Through the Inner Harbor, so I figured it was Subway. So at what point does an underground Light Rail become a “subway” or vice versa. I guess for the same reason the DC Metro is still the the “metro” when it runs for long stretches above ground.