Maryland Daily Record Maryland's trusted source for business and legal news
Map of proposed Red Line route.
Any rapid transit project providing a long-sought link between East and West Baltimore remains decades away, according to a recent report.
05.12.15 BALTIMORE, MD- From left, Brian O’Malley, Central Maryland Transportaion Alliance; Elise Bruner, Blue Water Baltimore; Steve Holt, CPHA; and Shannon Frede, Red Line Now; holding a banner supporting the Red Line in 2015. (The Daily Record/Maximilian Franz).
The Maryland Department of Transportation/Maryland Transit Administration’s November dispatch to the General Assembly essentially ends the limited hopes of Red Line light-rail backers of restarting the canceled project. Possible replacements, the same report found, remain decades away because of roadblocks, including required studies and funding shortages.
“Considering the variety of unresolved technical and financial issues present at the time the project was canceled, developing additional east-west transportation service in Baltimore City with a new capital project would be a costly and time-consuming process. Inflation, unresolved risks associated with tunnel construction, and significant changes in the project corridor present substantial obstacles to success,” according to the report’s summary.
The communique issued to the Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee and the House of Delegates’ Appropriations Committee argues Maryland’s Consolidated Transportation Budget is too limited to handle a new rapid transit investment.
State estimates from 2014 projected the Red Line to cost roughly $2.97 billion. An updated estimate included in the report now places the price tag at about $4 billion. Maryland anticipates inflation, in addition to other factors, adding more than $500 million to the Red Line’s 2014 price tag.
The agencies also note two unfunded associated proposals, the construction of a bridge and shared parking lot for a proposed Bayview MARC Station and relocated West Baltimore MARC Station, add $161 million to the expected total cost.
The Consolidated Transportation Budget for fiscal years 2019 through 2024, however, provides $16 billion. Maryland’s Department of Transportation, according to the report, must spend 80 percent of those funds on upkeep of the state’s existing transportation system.
State agencies plan to use the remaining $530 million for uses including upgrades to airports, improvements at the Port of Baltimore, funding for Washington Metropolitan Area transit, and highway enhancements.
Planning for the Red Line started in 2003. It was to run 14.1 miles from Woodlawn in western Baltimore County to East Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. The scheme included nearly 9 miles of surface rail, about 5 miles miles of tunnel, and a mix of 19 surface and underground stations.
(Bryan P. Sears/The Daily Record)
A significant source of funding, Federal Transit Administration New Starts grants, also has been removed from the funding equation. The Red Line received recommendation for $900 million in federal grant funding. But when Gov. Larry Hogan nixed the project the offer of federal funding was rescinded.
There’s now a significant number of projects in line for federal dollars ahead of a restarted Red Line or any alternatives.
Currently there are 22 transportation projects in the pipeline, with 50 more under development in the queue for federal grants, according to the state. At the current funding rate of $2.5 billion a year, it’s expected to take a decade to help pay for the 22 projects in the pipeline.
The report also examined potential alternatives to the Red Line, including bus rapid transit, surface-running light rail, a maximum tunnel light rail, and a reduced scope light rail.
Due to limited federal funds, and Maryland receiving a grant for the Purple Line light rail line connecting Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, state transportation officials contend another federal grant for a transit project in the state isn’t likely for upwards of 25 years.
Once completed, the Purple Line 21-station light rail project is planned to link Bethesda and New Carrolton, and connect to Metrorail’s Orange, Green, and Red lines; the MARC Brunswick, Camden and Penn lines; and Amtrak. (File photo)
Studies needed to seriously pursue alternative transit proposals are also expected to be costly. Examining potential for a reduced Red Line, which was the preferred alternative to the full Red Line, received serious vetting and is projected to cost up to $60 million.
Pursuing a Red Line alternative requires additional extensive reviews expected to last roughly a decade.
A new wrinkle in the review process comes via legislation passed by the General Assembly, and signed into law in April. State law now requires future transit proposals to follow a Central Maryland Transit Plan.
Maryland’s transportation agencies still must finish that plan, which aims to examine and address needs in the agencies’ core service areas over a 25-year period. Planning for Red Line alternatives can only happen once that outline is complete.
Several additional steps are required before Maryland can seriously pursue a substitute to the Red Line. One such step demands consulting the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board, elected officials and residents about any potential project.
“Given that a Central Maryland Regional Transit Plan is now required of (transportation agencies) by the legislature, its development should precede any separate major expansion project identification. This long-term plan will look to identify and prioritize transit corridors throughout the whole Baltimore metropolitan area,” according to the report.
