Sep 3, 2009
Surface Red Line would squeeze out cars – that’s good!
Neighborhood Voices on the Red Line Route
DAN TRACY
Dan Tracy, a retired lawyer, has lived in Canton for 21 years, long enough to see Boston Street evolve from a gritty, portside thoroughfare with broken sidewalks to a grand, tree-lined, waterfront boulevard with heavy commuter traffic. Trying to cross the street during rush hour is a near impossibility. The same could be said for trying to pull a car into the roadway from an adjacent parking lot.
And while many opponents of the Red Line cite that heavy traffic as a reason not to build an above-ground rail line on Boston Street, Tracy favors the project for that very reason. “Installing the Red Line surface line would end two lanes of traffic — and substantially reduce the traffic,” he says. “That’s a good idea. That’s not a bad idea.”
If construction of the Red Line is going to make it easier and safer for pedestrians to cross Boston Street and improve access to the waterfront, he’s for it.
“Most folks agree that the Red Line is very important for the city,” says Tracy, who moved downtown from Towson. “The problem becomes whether it’s underground or above ground.”
Tracy thinks an above ground rail line would cause “considerably less noise and air pollution” than the cars, trucks and busses now traveling Boston Street. An underground rail system gives a commuter another way to travel into the city, he says, but the commuter can still drive. But build an above-ground rail line and “you have gone a long way to eliminating the driving option. It would really incentivize people who commute on Boston Street” to take mass transit, he feels.
At a meeting hosted by the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance two months ago, Tracy watched a videotape that featured comparisons with light rail systems in Portland, Seattle and Phoenix. Baltimore residents who traveled to those cities described the rail lines as sleeker, smaller and quieter that the light rail that runs down Howard Street.
“They were, almost to a man, exceedingly impressed,” he said, and they felt their concerns could be addressed.
But Tracy is not without some concerns of his own. “The size of the portal and its configuration and its location are going to be very important,” he says. He intends to monitor the project’s progress to see if those issues are addressed.
-by ANN LOLORDO
Ann LoLordo was a longtime editor and reporter for The Baltimore Sun.
BREWED RECENTLY ON THE RED LINE . . . .
today:
“Transit line may be nice but it’s not for ‘us’”
previously:
“Transit Line Could Uplift a Struggling Baltimore Community”
“Transit Line a Burden, not a boon, for thriving, car-centric Canton”
“Time for Some Myth-busting on Baltimore’s Red Line, Says a Believer”
“Baltimore’s Red Line? Better for Developers Than Transit Riders.”
Dan Tracy has it all wrong. The Red Line may increase traffic congestion and gridlock Boston Street, but in no way will it make it easier to cross. There are very few parts of Boston where the MTA is considering removing lanes of traffic. If this boondoggle is built, you will have to cross two lanes of gridlocked cars, plus two lanes of rail. Crossing six lanes total now, not four. What part of this is better than how it is now?
And there will be more cars on Boston at slower speeds. That means MORE pollution: emissions are much higher when cars are idling. And they will be idling: according to the MTA’s own studies Boston will be gridlocked. And the Red Line will average less than 20mph – how is that a viable other option for commuters? Park, wait for the train, then go much slower than your car was beforehand? And that’s assuming the Red Line takes you where you want to go: most Boston Street traffic is NOT serviced by the red line.
Tracy needs to get his facts straight: right now all he’s doing is helping the MTA perpetuate their lies.
Oh – I forgot to mention this. Dan Tracy also knows he’s in the minority of Canton residents who support the red line. Before a recent interview program, he told a red line opponent that the city must be having a hard time finding people to support the line, because they keep calling him.
More evidence to support this is that when the Canton Community Association went out on a postcard campaign, over 1500 signed cards were collected against 4C in about a week. They found almost no supporters of the red line in Canton.
DAN TRACY’S opinion is NOT indicative of the views of the Anchorage Homeowner’s Association or its members. Owners of Boston Street homes and condos have invested millions of dollars into their properties, and they also support 80% of the City of Baltimore programs through payment of their exorbitant property taxes. Certainly, the Red Line will never become a positive “selling feature” of our homes. To the contrary, the Red Line will surely decrease our property values and will negatively affect our way of life on the harbor as we know it today!