First things first. The people who live along Boston Street are not against the Red Line. What they are against is the Red Line running down the middle of Boston Street.
“Put it underground,” said Cindy Ordes, a Canton Square resident who teaches high school in Harford County. “Do it right. They should have learned their lesson the last time.”
The Last Time is the 1960s, when various governments—federal, state and local—had infamous plans for Canton, then a smelly industrial backwater.
The feds wanted to build The Road, a six-to-eight lane connector between Interstates 95 and 83 that would have cut through Canton, Fells Point and Federal Hill—Baltimore’s richest and most desirable neighborhoods these days. The furor that erupted then drove the feds back to the drawing board and launched several political careers, chief among them that of U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, who had been happy in her social work career before the Road Fight.
Ordes, and about 60 of her neighbors, were out on Boston Street and Lakewood Avenue at 6 a.m. Monday demonstrating against the Maryland Mass Transit Administration’s plan to run the Red Line, an East-West commuter rail route, down the middle of Boston Street after its emergence from tunnels downtown and through Fells Point.
The light rail lines would cost Canton two long lanes of parking and the park that St. Casimir School uses as its playground. It would further complicate crossing Boston Street, a risky proposition already because of speeding cars, and cut off more people from the public waterfront at Harris Creek and Canton Waterfront Park.
“It’s a bad idea,” said Caroline Burkhart, another resident of Canton Square.
MTA representatives say that while the plan, which they call Alternative 4C, is not perfect, it is cheaper, and falls within federal mass transit cost guidelines. Tunnelling beneath Boston Street, the option the Canton neighbors prefer, is too costly, they say.
“I think the point [the protestors] are making is, ‘if you can build it and do it right, build it. If you can’t do it right, wait till you can,’” said Del. Brian K. McHale
State Sen. George W. Della (D-46), foreground, joined the protestors Tuesday morning. (Photo by Jacqueline Watts)
(D-46), who stopped by with State. Sen. George W. Della to support the protestors.
Another alternative which the MTA calls 4A would run one way on Eastern Avenue and return on Fleet Street before heading up Central Avenue to Baltimore Street. Even that would be preferable to running surface rail down Boston Street, the protestors say, because the people living farther north of the waterfront are more likely to use mass transit.
“How can [the MTA] justify ruining this street with the Red Line when the ridership on their bus is so poor?” asked Ordes.
Sure enough, five buses passed the protestors on Boston Street between 6:15 and 7:30 a.m. They were all empty.
Editor’s note: The State of Maryland once had a truly boneheaded plan for Canton, which (fortunately) it was forced to swallow while slinking back to Annapolis. The first five readers who correctly recall this plan will get a coupon from the Guide good for a free large pizza. Call 410-732-6603 with the answer. Leave your name, daytime telephone number and the correct answer to the question. Hint: think 30 years or so ago.
—by Jacqueline Watts
(editor@baltimoreguide.com) editor (at) baltimoreguide (dot) com
About The Baltimore Guide
This is in response to Jessica Keller’s letter and her support of a surface rail line down the middle of Boston Street.
I think most Canton residents are in favor of mass transit. In theory putting the Red Line down Boston Street seems like a good idea. But when you look at the real impact of railroad tracks down the middle of the street an entirely different picture emerges.
The Boston Street “urban boulevard” that was created in 1995 was never designed to accommodate a 24 foot wide track down its median. All trees will have to be cut down. Sidewalks narrowed, and lanes narrowed. Many turn lanes will be eliminated and access to side streets and shopping areas will be severely restricted.
Whichever tunnel entrance is planned (on Boston or on Aliceanna), a traffic bottleneck will be created. Even studies by the MTA, which enthusiastically supports this route, say it will increase commuting times by more than 15 minutes a day.
Then there are the safety and pedestrian access issues. Many people moved to Canton because of its easy access to the harbor. The double railroad tracks will greatly reduce this access. Now pedestrians have a median where they can wait for traffic to clear. With the Red Line tracks we’ll have many situations where someone will be waiting on the tracks for traffic to clear when a train is coming. How many accidents resulting from this will we be reading about in this newspaper?
Finally, we have the example of Baltimore’s first “light” rail line. It was promised to revitalize Howard Street. Today, Howard Street is deader than it has ever been and drivers avoid the area because of the “railroad tracks.”
I suggest to Ms. Keller that if she enjoys riding the No. 11 bus so much, she continue to do so without the surface rail line. It will save taxpayers well over a billion dollars and save the people of Canton one gigantic headache.
I have lived one block from Boston Street since 2000. A year and a half ago, I sold my only vehicle because I realized I was driving only 20 miles per month. I work downtown so I began riding the number 11 bus from Safeway on Boston Street to the CBD. I enjoy riding the bus to work – it takes 8 minutes and I don’t have to pay to park. Honestly, I had traveled all over the country and used other rail and bus systems before using Baltimore’s own because of the stigma attached to it. I’d like to address each point presented against the Red Line in the July 1, edition of The Guide.
Parking Lost – 142 spaces would be lost on Boston Street, however 3 stop locations would be gained- Aliceanna @ Boston, Safeway @ Boston and Canton Crossing. I would like to understand why residents are concerned with the loss of parking on Boston. I’d expect the businesses to be more concerned about parking lost.
Crossing Boston Street – According to the Southeast Transportation Action plan, More than 20,000 projected new private vehicular trips in the critical afternoon/evening PEAK HOURS are anticipated by 2012. By comparison, the typical gateway corridor in Baltimore City – Reisterstown Road, Harford Road – carries approximately 20,000 vehicle trips in a 24 HOUR PERIOD PER DAY! Try crossing Boston Street then! It would be ideal to have the county commuters get out of their cars at Canton Crossing and board the Red Line eliminating clogged roadway and smelly gas fumes along the corridor.
Existing Bus Ridership – the terminus of the #11 is located at the First Mariner Building. One would not expect to see riders between 6:15 and 7:30. If a standard work day begins at 8:00 am and it takes only 8 minutes to get to the CBD then riders would begin boarding AT 7:30 at the earliest.
I fully support the preferred alternative 4C – maybe it’s my age but I see this as a BOOST to the value of my home and the area in general. The country is moving away from the single occupant vehicle and investing in sustainable transportation infrastructure like rail. We would be amiss to turn our backs on the opportunity to get in on the shift from the car now. The population continues to increase but the roads in our City can’t get any wider to accommodate more cars without tearing down houses……do we really want a WIDER Boston Street?
—Ms. Keller is a Canton resident and Chief of Transportation Planning for the City of Baltimore.