Comments on: Baltimore Gears Up for Fight on Red Line Transit Plan

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:03:39 +0000

The Red line doesn’t benefit the west side in any way. There is one stop and that’s in a drug infested area. A light rail
train traveling along Edmondson Avenue just isn’t realistic
because of the traffic and the construction in Edmondson Village. The train going under Cooks Lane seems like pure fantasy to me. Why is O’Malley green lighting all the projects that Ehrlich rejected? How are the other counties going along with these Baltimore centered projects?

By: Cathy Thornton

Cathy Thornton — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:31:09 +0000

Why didn’t the black residents of those areas fight the “freeway to nowhere” instead of leaving it up to Barbara Mikulski? If there had been a Barbara in that area, the taxpayers could have saved tons of money on that ridiculous debacle as well.

By: Cathy Thornton

Cathy Thornton — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:24:26 +0000

What is the point of sending this unwanted waste of taxpayer dollars known as the Red Line through a residential/business area that already is short on parking? After reading the studies about how they already know that they’re going to have less than 40,000 riders per day, I don’t see the need to kill a few more perfectly good neighborhoods. We already have surface transit via the buses – many of them are free. Why waste all of this money building an infrastructure as intense as this rail system?

By: Cantonian

Cantonian — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 04:16:33 +0000

Asurface rail in Canton makes no sense. Tunneling makess the most sense.

By: Cantonian

Cantonian — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 04:11:46 +0000

$17 Million of YOUR taxpayer dollars were ALREADY spent over 10 years ago to make Boston St. in Canton a Scenic Byway! Brick sidewalks, stone medial strips & “antique” streetlights were installed. Trees were planted in the medial strips & along curbs that are now taller than the three story townhouses they shade. These MATURE trees also provide the ONLY shade for BOTH bikers and pedestrians on the South side of Boston St. There is NO shade on the promenade!

Plan 4-C will take MORE of your tax dollars to DESTROY all of this! The stone medial strip and brick sidewalks will be DUG UP & be TAKEN OUT. ALL the MATURE trees will be CUT DOWN!! IF any new trees are planted, they will just be tiny saplings! WHAT A WASTE OF YOUR MONEY!!! Your money would be much more wisely spent to tunnel under Boston ST in Canton, rather than WASTING the $17 million that was ALREADY spent!!! Tell your Representatives.

By: sillymealso

sillymealso — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:41:36 +0000

I agree with Sillyme. It’s the prime reason why Baltimore has a incomplete, one line subway instead of a comprehensive transit system such as D.C. Of course its ironic that the proposed Red Line transit right of way within the “freeway to nowhere” is the very same tract of land where thousands of black residents were displaced to make way for a highway that was ultimate stopped by…you got it…folks in Canton.

By: markus

markus — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 02:38:01 +0000

I grew up in west baltimore and I know that we need some type of boost to drive the economy back up… We use to always look at canton and those areas as rich people and for them to complain about property value oppose to the over all gain this project oppose on the thousands of people… It goes to show you how much people really care.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:38:14 +0000

Walking a block between stations isn’t a connection. For a commuter it’s just a pain in the ass and for someone making a leisure trip it’s just another reason to drive. A connection is walking up a flight of stairs or crossing the street. People don’t like the uncertainty involved with transfers to begin with. No one wants to see their train pulling out of the station as they’re running down the street trying to catch it, only to have to wait for another 10 minutes. The opportunity exists to do it right – so why not do it right?

By: sillyme

sillyme — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 07:01:58 +0000

I think the real reason the canton residents are in opposition, is because of this: a new train or bus line means black people into their community. There is no need to sugarcoat. And the sad part is, that half the black people in baltimore don’t even know of places like canton exist just beyond the harbor. In fact besides the actual harbor itself, the blacks in baltimore don’t go any futhur than lexington market. Its just moderen day racism if you ask me. Im not buying the “it brings down our house value and blocks the view of the water” BS. In actuality have a bus/train is more appealing to a home buyer because its easier commute to work/ ammenities.

By: orulz

orulz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:32:39 +0000

Saying that the red line and the heavy rail metro won’t be connected at Charles Center is IMO not correct. That would be like saying the Metro and the Light Rail aren’t connected at Lexington Market. In either case it’s a mode switch, and you only have to walk a few hundred feet to make the transfer. There are plenty of IN-SYSTEM transfer tunnels that are quite a bit longer than that.

IMO after the Red Line, the biggest improvement that can be made to Light Rail in Baltimore after the red line would be to move the Blue/Yellow line trains into the Howard Street Tunnel. Ever taken the Baltimore light rail? The trains crawl maddeningly down Howard, but they really fly quite satisfyingly elsewhere on the route.

A new bypass tunnel that would move freight trains out from beneath Howard is already being planned. In a decade or so when that’s done, talk about a perfect opportunity.