I would sincerely hope that this does not allow more consideration of putting the line underground through Canton. The ability of a few residents, workers, and visitors to drive 50 mph on the short two-lane stretch of Boston Street is not worth the cost of a tunnel. The parking loss should not be great either, since it is predominantly (if not all) short-term.

I live in the northern end of Canton and am used to walking 4-6 blocks to my car. A shortage of parking is something that people have to expect if they choose to live in a city.

Could this potentially open the door for the MTA to consider a fully metro subway instead of the hybrid tram/light rail technology currently being proposed?

Don't all of the proposed alternatives make traffic worse (at least per the proposal)?

If that's the case, I couldn't see the revised formula helping at all.

Side-note: the recaptcha image said "not botching." I think that's fitting, since that's what we all need to hope for.

Jed, IIRC, Alt 3D and 4D (maximum tunnel) did not worsen traffic any over the No Build on the line segments where there was the most neighborhood concern, i.e. SW Baltimore, Downtwon, Fells Point, Canton. The aforementioned alternatives still wreaked some traffic havoc on the far western segment around Security Blvd and Rolling Rd near SSA and CMS.

Cullen, the MTA and the GBC are committed to the current alignment. From my perspective, whatever it would take to allowing approval at the federal level is what they plan to do. So actually spending the time and money to alter the alignment and/or consider heavy rail is probably the last thing they want to do. The exception might be if the MTA knew they would likely get a grant for heavy rail prior to undertaking an expanded alternatives analysis for heavy rail. They might do that to garner strong public support that has been quite lacking.

Nate Payer
TRAC

Here's to hoping for that last bit, Nate.

I also forgot we've got Pocari with the FTA now (some folks on the Envision Baltimore list reminded me of that), which will of course make Red Line funding selection all the more likely.

I think most people can agree that the old policy was too narrow and needed significant changes. The worry is that when you open the gates too widely for a (relatively) small pot of money you can have equally negative outcomes (e.g. funding goes to more touristy, recreational projects rather than real mass transit needs). Hopefully the FTA will come to a good balance.

For Baltimore I hope this means double tracking Cooks Lane (which Swaim-Staley advocated for according to The Sun). That would be a huge win for this project and sensible use of the policy change. Canton getting a tunnel would be a minimal negative for the city and a complete waste of money taking it from projects in other cities and future Baltimore projects (Yellow line to Towson, anyone?).

Well, double-tracking the Cooks Lane tunnel isn't really a win. It's getting back something you already had and shouldn't have lost.

You're right in that it would be a waste of money extending the tunnel in Canton all the way down Boston St, because that alignment makes no sense for a rapid transit line in the first place! The whole eastern section of the line lacks justification in light of other options.

Nate Payer
TRAC

WE NEED A REAL SUBWAY SYSTEM....PERIOD!