Mayor Sheila Dixon and Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. plan to announce tomorrow that they support construction of an east-west light rail line that involves a mix of surface and underground tracks - an alternative that has won the support of Baltimore business leaders.
The heads of the two metropolitan governments will urge the Maryland Transit Administration to choose what is known as Alternative 4C as its preferred design for the proposed Red Line from Woodlawn to Bayview. The $1.6 billion proposal would run light rail in tunnels under downtown, Fells Point and Cooks Lane in West Baltimore, but would otherwise operate on the surface.
Dixon said yesterday that the Red Line, which could open as early as 2012 if the project can avoid snags, is crucial to the region's economic future. "We have no comprehensive transportation system in this city," she said "We have to get away from relying on cars."
Smith said the Red Line would provide opportunities for redevelopment in the county, especially around Security Square Mall and the Medicare-Medicaid complex in Woodlawn.
"We can't move forward as an innovative and forward-thinking community without a world-class public transit system, and this is an opportunity and it's time to make it a reality," Smith said.
Civic leaders have been hinting for months that they favor the plan and that they saw problems with other light rail and rapid bus alternatives. The Greater Baltimore Committee took the lead in advocating the limited-tunnel light rail plan when it endorsed Alternative 4C in September.
The announcement puts the two jurisdictions most affected by the choice on record in support of a "locally preferred alternative" when the MTA takes its decision to the federal government in an application for funds.
Henry M. Kay, the MTA's deputy administrator for planning and engineering, said it would be unusual for a public transit agency to make a selection that flies in the face of the will of local political leaders. "Elected officials - that's their role is to capture and articulate the desires of their constituents," he said.
Dixon's support for 4C could be crucial for another reason. The proposal has been greeted with suspicion in West Baltimore, where some residents have perceived the plan, which involves running the tracks on the surface along Edmondson Avenue, as racially discriminatory. As an African-American and a resident of the Edmondson Avenue (U.S. 40) corridor, Dixon has been working with community leaders in West Baltimore to allay concerns.
