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Old Posted Sep 22, 2012, 3:28 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2006
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MTA displays designs of Red Line stations in Baltimore
Baltimore Business Journal by Jack Lambert, Researcher/Reporter
Date: Friday, September 14, 2012, 2:24pm EDT - Last Modified: Friday,September 14, 2012, 2:26pm EDT



An artist's rendering of a proposed Red Line station at Light and Lombard streets in downtown Baltimore.



An artist's rendering of proposed Red Line station at Broadway Market in Fells Point.


The city’s Urban Design and Architecture Review panel praised the Maryland Transit Administration’s latest renderings of the proposed downtown Red Line stations Thursday. But the three-member panel also criticized some of the features, including proposed retail space, an elevator at one of the stations and the impact the stations might have on city development.

Officials with AECOM, a New York-based architectural consulting firm, showed off drawings of proposed stations for the Inner Harbor, Fells Point and along Howard Street near First Mariner Arena.

The $2.1 billion Red Line is a proposed 14.5-mile east-west mass transit project that would run underneath the city. Construction on the project is scheduled to begin in 2015, said Henry Kay, executive director of transit development and delivery with the MTA. The Red Line, proposed to run between Woodlawn and Canton, is not scheduled to be completed until 2021.

Some of the notable features of the stations include an above-ground glass entrance at the intersection of Light and Lombard streets for the Inner Harbor station. That station would also feature a 600-foot pedestrian tunnel that would connect it to the Charles Center metro station.

The glass features at each of the metro stations is one of the unifying themes of the proposed Red Line, said Osborne Anthony, chief architect for the Red Line.

“We’re building for the future,” Anthony said. “So it needs to be something that is contemporary and forward looking.”

UDARP’s three-member panel praised the design plans for their innovation and clarity. But the panel also expressed some concerns.

UDARP member Gary Bowden said the group may want to rethink the proposed above-ground elevator at the Howard Street station, considering the blighted condition of the same type of elevator at the Charles Center metro stop. The elevator’s all-glass material should help eliminate some of those problems, Anthony said.

Mark Cameron, another UDARP member, also wanted the group to present more specifics of a proposed small retail center at the Inner Harbor station. Cameron also said the group has to better account for development around the stations.

“We need to see a true site plan,” Cameron said.

The Transportation Authority said it will have UDARP review further Red Line plans before any final decision on the sites are reached. The government agency said it has completed about 20 percent of the total project plans.
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