A RECENT Sun editorial was right on target in its hope that Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and Baltimore County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger will "galvanize their colleagues and enroll [Gov. Parris] Glendening in a Smart Growth crusade for mass transit." But if these two activist leaders are to succeed, they need to be ready with a plan for how the money should best be spent. Such a plan is not in place today.
The Mass Transit Administration has a $1.5 billion wish list of rail projects, some of them gathering dust for a decade. The biggest chunk of this money would take the Metro subway to White Marsh by way of Memorial Stadium - which clearly shows the plans need rethinking. Transportation gurus from the MTA, the city and the surrounding counties must put their heads together to offer fresh ideas suited to the new millennium rather than the old.
New thinking is especially needed to build ridership on the painfully under-utilized Metro subway. On the west side, this service originates in Owings Mills, at a park-and-ride center destined for major enhancement under Baltimore County Smart Growth plans. On the east side, it ends at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, with connections to nowhere.
The most cost-effective plan for enhancing the role of the subway is to bring it out of the ground a third of a mile past its present terminus at Hopkins Hospital. The line could be led eastward alongside the Amtrak right of way to a major transportation hub on open land north of Hopkins Bayview Hospital on Eastern Avenue, offering large park-and-ride lots and a springboard for MTA service to White Marsh, Essex, Dundalk and points north and east.
Regional plans already call for a MARC commuter rail stop at Bayview. The need is to broaden this vision to encompass a convergence of services, much as New Carrollton does outside Washington.
Another capital improvement that would bring life to Metro subway and light rail would be a quick and comfortable connection between them at Lexington Market. What's needed is a short passageway on the Clay Street walkway beside the old Hutzler's building, connecting the light rail stop on Howard Street with the subway mezzanine on Eutaw Street.
This would give Baltimore a connected rail transit system, rather than two oddly disconnected lines. Building on this core system, MTA could fine-tune its plan for a rail line extending west from Lexington Market to Security Boulevard and perhaps beyond. This line is part of the long-range plan.
