Hundreds of people came out yesterday to learn about and help shape plans for an east-west transit route in Baltimore - a project that would cost more than $1 billion and could go from dream to groundbreaking as soon as 2012.
Mayor Sheila Dixon's Red Line Summit drew more than 300 people to the Baltimore Convention Center to hear experts from around the country and to brainstorm about how more than 40 city neighborhoods could benefit from the transit project.
"The Red Line is critical to the future of our city for so many reasons," Dixon said. "It's not every day that a billion-dollar project comes to East and West Baltimore. The opportunity is there, and we have to seize it."
The proposed 12-mile transit line would operate from the Social Security Administration in Baltimore County to the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus in Southeast Baltimore.
Construction could begin as early as 2012, pending review and approval by the Federal Transit Administration and a funding plan endorsed by state and federal government. The Maryland Transit Administration has officially narrowed down its choices to a light rail system or a bus system operating in dedicated lanes, known as bus rapid transit, although it has also agreed to less formally consider proposals for heavy rail.
Vital to making sure that the project unfolds in the best interests of the city is making sure that a community compact is drafted that identifies the matters local residents consider most important, Dixon said.
In workshop groups, those who attended yesterday brainstormed about the top issues, including everything from monitoring noise and air quality and rats around the construction site, to making sure that WiFi and bike racks are present in the stations, to protecting historic neighborhoods.
Karen Shannon, owner of M-PALM, who is working on a project to provide information to people moving to the area as part of the federal government's military base realignment, came yesterday to learn more about transit plans that will become increasingly important with expected population growth.
"Fort Meade is going to become the ... Silicon Valley for the government," said Shannon. "With all of that, it requires an incredible amount of focus on how we're going to move people. I'm excited about what's going on in Baltimore City to the point where I'm going to relocate here. Baltimore City has a lot to offer."
