Beneath the Jones Falls Expressway downtown, Wendell Daniels arched an eyebrow as he mulled over the pros and cons of tearing down a mile-long section of the elevated highway and replacing it with an "urban boulevard."
"This is where people travel at," said Daniels, jabbing a finger up at the highway. Daniels, who said he is homeless part of the year, sat alone amid the debris across from the Our Daily Bread soup kitchen, listening to a small radio. "That would put more cars on this street if you tear that down."
Six blocks away, Matthew Wittek pried a large board off a vacant four-story building in the 500 block of Forrest St. as a man across the street lay on the ground near a bus stop. Wittek said he plans to close soon on the purchase of the brick building for art studios and residences.
Wittek, who lives on the west side of the Jones Falls Expressway and commutes to Washington, D.C., paused as he thought about what it would mean to raze the nearby elevated expressway roughly between Chase and Fayette streets, an idea the city is exploring.
After weighing pros and cons, Wittek concluded that more traffic on city streets could be a plus for the area around his investment. "They would be meandering and then maybe say, 'Hey, let's take a side road for a change,' " Wittek said.
Yesterday, residents had mixed reactions to the city's decision to hire an engineering team to study the idea of replacing the section of the expressway with a landscaped "urban boulevard." Planners say Guilford Avenue could handle much of the southbound traffic and the Fallsway could be upgraded for northbound motorists, with a green space in between.Ty Sass, a 27-year-old Mount Vernon resident, said it was a good idea for the city to spend $60,000 on the study, but he said the city must have prospects for tangible benefits if it decides to pursue something that planners say could cost $1 billion or more.
Others who use the expressway to get in and out of downtown said the project would compound traffic difficulties.
"I just cringe to think what this would do to traffic if implemented," said one post on a baltimoresun.com comment board. "Getting into downtown on the JFX in the morning is already an hour-in-stand-still-traffic proposition. By all means, add more traffic lights!"
Wayne Forsythe, 59, moved from Jacksonville, Fla., to Severn almost a year ago. He plans to move to Mount Vernon soon to renovate a building and live there. He said the "urban boulevard" wouldn't make sense in large part because of the effect it would have on traffic, because an at-grade boulevard would have stoplights.
"It would be gridlock there," said Forsythe, a retired health care worker.
As Forsythe relaxed outside a coffee shop in the 800 block of N. Charles St., he pointed to grass that needs to be cut in the park near the Washington Monument.
"The city needs to do a better job of maintaining what they have here," he said.
