The Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, has relaunched the Baltimore Red Line project which was canceled in 2015, now seen as a major investment programme that will enhance east-west connectivity across city’s region.
The governor made the announcement at the West Baltimore MARC station joined by Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld and Maryland transport officials.
“Nearly a decade ago, the previous administration cut the Red Line project at a time when Baltimore was reeling from one of the most trying eras in recent history – but now is the time for us to get this right. We’re going to work together and seize this moment in our nation’s history when the stars are aligned to invest in public transit,” the governor said.
Beginning two decades ago, the Baltimore Red Line proposal sought to improve transit efficiency, fill an east-west transit gap, increase access to work and activity centres, provide connections to existing transit and other transportation modes, offer more commuter choices, and support economic development and community revitalisation.
In the coming months, the Maryland Transit Administration will lead the next development phase, building on community participation to update and modernise the Red Line plan to meet the region’s mobility needs.
Project’s key considerations include the transit mode, with both light rail and bus rapid transit options evaluated, tunnelling – exploring options to reduce or eliminate tunnelling in the city centre by using on-street alignments to assess cost, benefits and drawbacks to tunneling, the review of Highlandtown/Bayview alignment and assessment of the environmental changes.
The Maryland Transit Administration will request entry into the federal Capital Investment Grants programme in 2024, which requires Federal Transit Administration oversight and would make significant federal financial assistance available to advance the project to full implementation. The institution will also launch the Eastern Baltimore County Access Study to evaluate alignments for further expansions east into Baltimore County. This future phase of the Red Line will seek to connect the current alignment to the job centers in eastern Baltimore County.
The first public engagement is scheduled to begin in mid-July and continue through mid-August 2023.
“Having signed the original Red Line Community Compact fifteen years ago, I know this project and the tremendous benefits it will bring to the community are long overdue,” Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said.
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