Seeking ways to revitalize Baltimore's east side, the city is exploring the idea of tearing down a mile-long stretch of the Jones Falls Expressway that divides downtown from the Johns Hopkins medical campus.
Baltimore's Department of Transportation has hired an engineering team headed by Rummel, Klepper & Kahl LLP to examine the pros and cons of razing the elevated expressway roughly between Chase and Fayette streets and replacing it with a landscaped "urban boulevard" that would provide access to an area larger than Charles Center or the Harbor East renewal district.
The estimated cost is $1 billion or more, and no funding is in place. The $60,000 study represents the first time Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration has allocated money specifically to assess the concept of replacing the expressway with a boulevard designed to stimulate development. The civil engineers began work earlier this year and are expected to present their findings by late summer.
Dixon said she is intrigued by the idea of deconstructing the expressway, a project that is likely at least five years away, and looks forward to receiving the engineers' recommendations.
"Ideally, it would be good to take it down and connect the two sides," she said of the elevated expressway. "The issue is cost. ... I'd like to see the study completed and get input from the consultants. Conceptually, I think it's a great concept. ... I'm open to it."
"There's no question that it would be a good thing, from an urban-design point of view," said M. Jay Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corp., which oversees downtown development. "It would enhance the value of ... properties [all along the route]. What I don't know is, what are the constraints, from when it was built, in terms of federal money? If we take it down, do we have to reimburse the federal government?"
By replacing the elevated expressway with a boulevard, planners say, the city would free up a large east-side development district that could be used to steer companies and residents that might otherwise move to the suburbs, while taking development pressure off the central business district.
At the same time, the project could result in slower travel times for commuters using the expressway to get in and out of downtown because an at-grade boulevard, unlike the elevated expressway, would have stoplights at busy intersections. It also likely would add to traffic congestion east of downtown while the project was under construction.
