Activists in West Baltimore are proposing a phased-in plan that reinvents the Red Line light rail project.
The Smart Line plan reimagines the now defunct project as a subway line, offering the ability to transport more people faster. Once built out, advocates said it could one day connect western Baltimore County to Sparrows Point in eastern Baltimore County.
Jonathan Sacks, executive director of HUB West Baltimore Community Development Corporation, said there is a knee jerk reaction against building subway lines because of the expense. Sacks presented the plan during a meeting Thursday organized by Baltimore-based Transit Choices.
“We think this is a really important proposal to consider and we hear reflexively all the time how expensive heavy rail is,” said Sacks. “When you say it to the folks…at the Maryland Department of Transportation, when you say to folks at the [Maryland Transit Administration], they say it’s too expensive, heavy rail is really expensive. Well, but is it, and is it less expensive than a $6 billion light rail, and can you do more if you do it in chunks.”
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bryan P. Sears over at Maryland Matters
