Baltimore InnerSpace: February 2010

February 2, 2010

Comprehensive Rail Solution

LET'S FOCUS ON WHAT WE REALLY NEED

Freight, intercity high speed rail, and regional transit such as the Red Line - It all needs to be envisioned together, along with the role of Baltimore in the world economy, and between the inner city, our neighboring cities and the suburbs.

Mark Reutter's latest article in the Baltimore Brew is a great starting point for thinking out loud about the chaotic state of comprehensive rail planning in the Baltimore region. The Maryland Department of Transportation's recent award of a $70 million down-payment from the Feds to begin work on the replacement of the Amtrak tunnel in West Baltimore is but a tiny droplet compared to the multi-billion dollar "needs" which have been defined by MDOT and all concerned.

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"THE AMAZON LINE": METRO EXTENSION FROM HOPKINS HOSPITAL TO BOENING/HOLABIRD TRADEPOINT ATLANTIC

Today's Sun (Sept 27, 2017) just announced "the final phase of negotiations" for a second regional Amazon distribution center at TradePoint Atlantic - the gigantic commercial center being built on the old site of the Sparrow's Point steel mill.

Amazon's first center was built on Broening Highway south of Bayview. The city, state and Kevin Plank's Sagamore Development are also preparing plans to attract Amazon's second corporate headquarters to Port Covington next to Under Armour in South Baltimore. Sagamore is also building its own distribution center for Under Armour at TradePoint Atlantic.

The future of Baltimore's economic development is thus unfolding: Centralized urban corporate campuses and suburban port-related distribution to the east.

This comes a week after venture capitalist and former mayoral candidate David Warnock wrote in the Baltimore Sun of the need for an overarching economic development strategy to take advantage of the strong geographic position these types of developments offer Baltimore.

Two of Mr. Warnock's five "key initiatives" were rail transit lines proposed first here to get workers to and from these city and suburban developments - A west Red Line converging on the existing Metro and light rail lines at a Lexington Market Hub, and a Metro Extension eastward from Hopkins Hospital that would serve all three existing, planned and proposed Amazon and Under Armour distribution facilities.

In turn, a spur from the central light rail line southward into Port Covington has become a key element of their adopted plan now in development.

So just as this economic strategy is unfolding, a strong rail transit structure to serve it is also emerging: Lexington Market would be the comprehensive central hub. The heavy rail Metro would be the high speed, high capacity spine from Owings Mills to Sparrow's Point (and also White Marsh), and the central light rail line would provide additional branches to Port Covington, BWI-Marshall Airport, Hunt Valley and other nearby points.

The Metro is sufficiently fast and high capacity to be extended well into the suburbs. The central light rail line is sufficiently flexible to accommodate light rail and streetcar spurs to key economic development areas.

And all of it can be built in small economically manageable segments.