Red Line

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has given its approval for the Baltimore Red Line to move forward and enter the engineering phase. Formally known as "preliminary engineering," the phase includes preparation of more detailed plans, schedules and cost estimates as well as completion of final environmental studies.  Details relating to the location and architecture of stations, connections to other rail transit, access to other modes of transportation, and parking are determined during the preliminary engineering phase.

The Red Line is a 14-mile transit line that will run east-west, from the Johns Hopkins Bayview medical center at the eastern most junction to Woodlawn and the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services complex on the west.   The line will run along the surface for most of the route but will tunnel below the surface at several locations, including  Cook’s Lane and again on Martin Luther King Boulevard near the University of Maryland BioPark, through Downtown and surfacing again on Boston Street near the Canton Can Company. The Red Line, expected to be completed in 2020, will carry 57,000 riders per day in 2030 and cost approximately $1.8 billion in Year 2010 dollars.

Winning FTA approval to enter the “preliminary engineering” phase of the project is a significant achievement for a region underserved by public transportation. One of only 40 projects to be approved by the FTA in the “New Starts” program, the Red Line, when completed, will provide critical connections to other rail systems such as Amtrak, the metro subway, the light rail, and MARC, and will connect people to jobs through the metropolitan area. Building upon this success, in October 2011, the Red Line was chosen among 14 infrastructure projects by the federal government for expedited permitting and environmental review, a move that could reduce the projects time by two years.

The Transportation Alliance has been a strong advocate for the Red Line and worked with the Maryland Transit Administration, Baltimore County and Baltimore City government to help build consensus around the route that was ultimately selected as the official route to be submitted to the FTA for approval, the so-called “Locally Preferred Alternative.”  Once the submission was made the Alliance collaborating with the MTA, City DOT and other stakeholder groups to:

• Facilitate capacity of Station Area Committees formed in communities impacted by the route to assist in transit station design.
• Maximize access to job opportunities that will be created by the construction of the rail line itself.
• Communicate the benefits of an integrated regional rail network as a catalyst for economic development.
  

With the Red Line now moving into the engineering phase, the Transportation Alliance will continue to be a strong advocate to not only insure that the project proceeds to construction but also to communicate the benefits of the Red Line to the region’s economy to stakeholders throughout Central Maryland.

For more information about the Red Line, go to www.baltimoreredline.com.