Baltimore Re-Launches its Previous Red Line Project

Governor Wes Moore

Photo: Maryland.gov

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Governor Wes Moore announces the re-vamp and re-launch of the city’s Red Line project which was previously cut in 2015.

Joined by Lieutenant Governor, Aruna Miller, Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary, Paul J. Wiedefeld, and both transportation and elected officials, Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced the re-launch of Baltimore transit, the Red Line, after it was cut a decade prior.

Lt. Gov., Aruna Miller supports the re-launch because “Transit options create pathways for people to go from where they live to where the opportunities are, but for a huge swath of Baltimoreans, those pathways and those opportunities have been limited. The Moore-Miller administration is changing that by kickstarting the Red Line – a project that will transform Baltimore City into a model for what a fully-integrated transit network looks like.”

What the actual end-result looks like is unclear, “whether as a light rail, a rapid bus system, or a combination of mass transit options.”

The original Red Line project also planned to improve transit ridership and provide access to the east-west transit gap by offering commuters more transit options. Maryland’s Dept. of Transportation Secretary, Paul J. Wiedefeld, said that before it was canceled in 2015, the plan “was shaped by more than 10 years of study, engineering, environmental analysis, and substantial community participation.”

Over the next few months, the Maryland Transit Administration will meet to discuss the Red Line plan and considerations that need to be addressed including the transit mode, tunneling, environmental changes, and the Highlandtown/Bayview alignment. For funding assistance, they will also request to join the federal Capital Investment Grants program next year. Public engagement periods are expected to start this Summer from July to August.

In addition to requesting access to federal funding, the Maryland Transit Administration will develop the Eastern Baltimore County Access Study as a way to expand even further into Baltimore County, particularly to job centers.

Expansion into Red Line corridor communities, the Red Line plan will improve east-west bus service with a limited bus loop between Essex Park-and-Ride and the North Bend loop.

Other elements that the Maryland Transit Administration wants to include are real-time information signs, Americans with Disabilities (ADA) improvements, and improvements to bus shelters and transit treatments.