Neighbors seek closing of Kirk Avenue Bus Yard
Residents of Baltimore's Greenmount West community plan to hold a protest Thursday night to call for the closing of the Maryland Transit Administration's bus yard on Kirk Avenue, arguing that it generates noise and air pollution that hurt the neighborhood.
The protest comes as the MTA holds a community meeting at Cecil Elementary School to outline its plans for improvements at the Kirk Avenue yard. Resident5s complain that buses idle continuously at the yard, that loudspeakers blare through the night and that diesel fuel runoff from buses gets into their yards.
Resident could face a long struggle. Even if the MTA were to decide it wanted a new yard, it might take years for it to rise to the top of the state's transportation priority list. The state would presumably also have to find land in a place where community opposition wouldn't be just as fierce.
That's a tall order.
Comments
Those buses are annoying, but not nearly annoying as the #36 being late in Greenmount West when it's coming from only a few blocks away.
Also, I'd say Kirk Division is more in East Baltimore/Midway
Posted by: porpoise | May 5, 2011 6:51 PM
The article states that the loud speakers bare through the night; this is simply an untruth. Kirk avenue does not use the pa system as a concession to the neighborhood. This policy has been in effect so several years now.
It is against MTA policy to idle buses continuously.
The Kirk Ave base has a storm water separation system that prevents fuel running off into surrounding areas.
Kirk base has been operating since 1947. I wonder how many of the neighbors who complain have owned their homes prior to that? Do you have the right to complain about something that was preexisting at the time you purchased you home?
Posted by: Matt Kowaleviocz | May 30, 2011 8:18 AM