The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), the City of Baltimore and Baltimore County formed a partnership and solicited participation for the 20 station areas along the planned east west "Red Line" rail transit. All stakeholders and communities in the corridor were invited to nominate participants in this large effort. Hundreds of people were appointed to 16 Station Area Advisory Committees ("SAAC"). Work started in November, most planning committees have by now met at least two times. In December over 300 people gathered at Coppin University's large new gym to attend a half day information event in which planners and officals from across the country reported on best practices in transit and community planning.
The almost revolutionary new twist: Citizens were not merely asked to help design their planned transit station, they were also asked to think big. 1/2 mile big, to be precise and consider the communities, the land use, the circulation and just about everything in the area around the transit station. "If we just build a transit line, we have failed" says Danyell Diggs, the special envoy of the City, appointed by previous Mayor Sheila Dixon to leverage maximum benefit from the transit investment.
The city and to some extent the County have discovered the famous "transportation - land use nexus", the chicken and egg relationship between land use and transportation. Road builders have always maintained that they just build the roads to places where people want to be. Developers, in turn, build where it is easy to get to. Subsequently, "induced demand" has often absorbed the added capacity in no time. For example, the I-795 expressway to Owings Mills brought Carroll County much closer to the urbanized center and has opened the floodgates for sprawl in this formerly rural county to the point that Route 140, Westminster Pike is eternally congested.
In transit matters were more complicated: Many station areas of existing transit remained undeveloped "holes in the doughnut" and even new transit often had nothing going on around stations. In a time when public funds are scarce, this is even more wasteful. The effort to make best use of the land around transit stations with lively mixed use centers rather than dull extensive parking lots is long overdue. It is called transit oriented development. In the case of Baltimore City, this also means re-investment in those areas ravaged by disinvestment and blight.
All through 2011 16 planning teams consisting of citizens and stakeholders will work on visions and ideas for their station areas. They will get all the support they need from City and County agencies and the MTA. Newly hired community liaisons will ensure ongoing and stable contact between the communities and the transit agency from now on until the new transit line will be in operation in (planned for 2018).
For for more information see also www.gobaltimoreredline.com
ArchPlan is a consultant to MTA and a facilitator for the three station areas of West Baltimore, Harlem Park and Poppleton (with Mahan Rykiel).
Baltimore Links: SAAC members assembled to hear about best practices across the US
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