Top 10 Md. transportation stories: 2000-2009
Apart from disasters, transportation stories tend to unfold over the course of many years. Some of the ones that garner big headlines at the time will be all but forgotten in a few years time. So in choosing the Top 10 Maryland transportation stories of the past decade, it helps to project forward to 2020 or 2030 and look back at what made a lasting difference.
A little disclosure is in order. I have covered transportation for The Sun since 2004 and before that followed many transportation-related stories as a State House Bureau reporter. So there might be a bias in favor of the stories I covered. (Thanks to my colleague Scott Calvert to reminding me of the Howard Street Tunnel fire, which occurred before my time on the beat.)
With those caveats, I present my top 10 in the bottom-to-top format made wildly popular by David Letterman:
10. Light rail double-tracking project completed. When Baltimore's light rail system opened early in the 1990s, it soon became clear that the system had been built on the cheap. The decision to run trains on a single track over long stretches led to constant delays and operational difficulties. Thus, under the Glendening administration, the decision was made to add a second track. The Ehrlich administration then made a tough decision to expedite the work by closing down the southern and northern stretches of the system for periods of about a year. It was a rough time for light rail users, but the project was finally completed in early 2006, and the result has been much more reliable service on this still image-impaired system.
Sun photo/Amy Davis/2006
Sun photo/Robert Hamilton/2004
Emergency responders at fatal crash in Gamber, Carroll County.
9. Highway deaths continue to take toll. If 600 people had died in a single transportation disaster in Maryland, there's no question it would be No. 1 on this list. But the continuing carnage on state highways dribbles in at the rate of a story or two a day -- usually brief items of three paragraphs or less. Each year of this decade, the toll has hovered around 600 a year. By the time the final totals are talllied, more than 6,000 people -- twice the number killed on 9/11 -- will have died on state roads. One ray of hope: The number in 2008 dropped below 600. And it could go even lower this year.
8. State struggles to fund transportation as gas tax stays put. The state's Transportation Trust Fund revenue continues to lag far behind the demand for projects as politics keeps the gas tax stuck at the early-1990s level of 23.5 percent a gallon. Both the Ehrlich administration (2004) and the O'Malley administration (2007) pushed through large revenue measures but both looked to other sources for funds. For Ehrlich, it was registration fees; for O'Malley, titling taxes and the sales tax. But neither package raised enough money the withstand the current recession.
Photo by Jerry Neblett/2004
7. Water taxi capsizes in Baltimore Harbor. The most heart-wrenching Maryland transportation story of the decade was one that brought the city national attention. Five people were killed -- and a little girl permanently disabled -- when a seemingly routine water taxi trip from Fort McHenry to Fells Point aboard the Lady D turned into a nightmare when a powerful squall struck the heavily loaded pontoon craft on March 6, 2004. It took a heroic rescue effort to keep the toll from going higher.
6. Wheels fall off MTA buses. From August 2001 until June 2002, wheels fell of 18 MTA buses, leading to 54 injury claims and the ouster of the agency's acting administrator. The problems in the MTA's bus maintenance operation cast a cloud over the agency's image that lingers despite the fact there has not been a recurrence in many years. Will that change now that the MTA is moving in the direction of a fleet entirely made up of diesel-electric hybrids that are cleaner and more reliable?
Governor Martin O'Malley, with Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, announces decision on Red Line.
5. Red Line, Purple Line advance. Proposed transit lines in Baltimore and the Washington suburbs advance through the arduous process of public hearings and planning to the point where Gov. Martin O'Malley could choose a specific mode (light rail) and route for the two projects in 2009. The choices were controversial -- especially in the case of Baltimore's Red Line -- but the decision on whether the projects will be approved is now in the hands of the federal goverment.
4. Bay Bridge truck crash uncovers structural flaws. If the decade brought a single photographic image of transportation in Maryland that will linger in people's minds, it is that of a tractor-trailer being pulled from the waters of the Chesapeake Bay after it crashed through the barriers on the eastbound span and went over the side, killing its driver. An inspection after the August 2008 crash revealed corrosion of the metal devices that attach the barriers to the deck -- forcing emergency repairs that tied up traffic on the bridge for weeks. The work was completed earlier than originally estimated, but no repairs could change the fact we will never cross the bridge wiith the same confidence we had before the crash.
Wahington Post photo/2008
3. New Woodrow Wilson Bridge opens. After decades of talk about the need to replace the obsolete and deteriorating bridge that carried the Capital Beltway over the Potomac River from Oxon Hill to Alexandria, Va., preliminary construction work finally got under way in 2000. The first span of the new bridge opened in 2006, clearing the way for the demolition of the old bridge later that year and construction of the second span, which opened in 2008. And it was done on time and within its budget.
2. Intercounty Connector approved; construction begins. After almost a half-century of wrangling between highway advocates and environmentalists, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. fulfilled a campaign promise in 2006 by winning federal approval of the ICC -- an 18-mile toll road connecting Interstate 95 wiith the Interstate 270 corridor in Montgomery County. When a lawsuit seeking to block the highway fails in federal court in 2007, the game is over. Construction is now well under way. The irony factor: When the first segment of the ICC opens in October 2010, the man who gets to cut the ribbon will presumably be Ehrlich's arch-rival, O'Malley.
1. Derailment, fire close Howard Street Tunnel.
When a CSX freight train carrrying hazardous chemicals derailed in the century-old Howard Street Tunnel on July 18, 2001, the resulting underground fire and water main break closed down much of downtown for almost a week and brought East Coast freight traffic to a halt. For many Baltimoreans it was the first they'd heard of the tunnel, but it was a reminder to the industry and national transportation officials that Baltimore is a dangerous bottleneck in the nation's freight rail system. Amazingly, no one was injured in what could have been a serious disaster. Two months later, four jetliners were hijacked on 9/11 and the memories of the Howard Street debacle quickly receded. As the decade ends, little progress has been made toward replacing the tunnel.
Sun photo/2001
Obviously a lot of stories didn't make the final cut. They included the Interstate 95 express toll lane project, the poorly received Greater Balltimore Bus Initiative, the decision to move to a hybrid bus fleet, the botched repaving of the Bay Bridge, the introduction of speed cameras and the continuing growth of congestion in the region. And then there were the ones that readers will recall that I did not.
Readers of this blog should consider this list a draft. Make a good case that something else should be in the Top 10 and you might see it there in the final version.
Comments
I think your Top 10 List is pretty good. I have a few notables...
1) I think the Bay Bridge could be lumped into one big topic. From the truck crash to repaving a repaving to the controversy over a new bridge, it stands alone. It would also open your list to other candidates, such as...
2) I-95 Toll Lanes. The impact of this project is far reaching and never ending. First, no one in the press (and this includes you my
friend) has ever brought to light that the powers that be had just finished widening I-95, with new bridges, and promptly tore it all down to start the Toll Lanes Project. This is NEVER mentioned... or included in the enormous cost of the widening and Toll Lanes. I-95 on the northeast side - our own little traffic hell - has been under construction for nearly 20 years. The interchange at I-95 and I-695 on the northeast side will be a marvel... and at the same time, perhaps even a study in futility. The real issue on the northeast side is the 1-lane ramps onto and off of the Beltway... not Tolls. It appears with all the new work, we are still going to have 1-lane ramps onto and off of the Beltway. Mike, this project is enormous. And it has likely wasted millions of dollars already.
3) MARC ridership and the aging fleet. I don't know what the ridership % change is over the past 10 years, but it has to be impressive... and coupled with an aging fleet, has made for some interesting commutes.
Maybe not Top 10, but Honorable Mention for sure.
4) I don't use it, but the Hampstead Bypass could use an Honorable Mention as well.
Posted by: Eric L. | December 23, 2009 12:55 PM
This may not qualify for this list but you should consider adding the Beltway Snipers' reign of terror. They caused quite a mess.
Posted by: Dino | December 23, 2009 3:56 PM
I'm a bit biased, but another honorable mention would be two Eastern Shore projects -- U.S. Route 113 and Md. Route 404 -- that were expanded from two to four lanes. The first one was among the state's most dangerous roads and has been expanded in the Ocean Pines area and later south of Route 50. Route 404 featured the completion of the Denton Bypass almost 20 years after the first section was completed, and now the deadliest section is being expanded. These projects were made possible through the dedication of resident volunteers and federal pressure on state leaders.
Posted by: Kent | December 23, 2009 6:00 PM
I agree mostly but think the hybrid buses should be reconsidered. they are more hype than reality, And the one thing about them that is overlooked and brushed under the table is that they are grossly overweight. If it were not for a one sentence exception in code they would not even be allowed on the road, the rear axle load is far in excess of what any truck would be allowed. How much damage to the roads are they doing??
not to mention they cost twice as much as a clean diesel bus and no one has mentioned how much that battery pack will cost to replace at the end of it's six year life expectancy, nor how it will be recycled.
Bob
Posted by: Bob | December 23, 2009 10:08 PM
Perhaps not a top-ten, but worthy of an honorable mention, is the crash of Montgomery County's signal system last month.
Posted by: six-ft-six | December 24, 2009 9:28 AM
Another development over the last decade or so: The recognition by some people of the importance of pedestrians to the functioning of the transportation system and the quality of life. For example, Montgomery County is improving pedestrian access to bus stops (how else are passengers supposed to get to the bus?). And the state is making an inventory of obstructions in sidewalks on state roads. At the Federal level, DOT, EPA, and HUD are talking with each other about Liveable Communities, where there are transportation options that give people the choice not to drive if they so desire.
We still have a long ways to go. Would you feel comfortable letting an 11 year old child, or a 71 year old grandmother, cross at the major intersections near where you live, work, or play?
Posted by: John Z Wetmore | December 26, 2009 1:23 AM
In reading your top-ten list, I kept expecting to find mention of the bomb hoax in October '05 that shut down both harbor tunnels and had traffic south of Baltimore backed up to the bay bridge. I think it deserved a spot among the top ten.
Posted by: Lewis Porter | December 29, 2009 12:06 AM