The Baltimore Red Line is a 14-mile Light Rail Transit (LRT) system that is being planned to run west-east from the end of Security Boulevard at the Federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) complex over to the Bayview Main Campus. Light Rail Transit is basically a small train. The entire system will run on rails and will be powered by overhead electric lines. No portion of it will consist of buses or any other form of transportation. However, bus lines will link to it. Because it is electric, it should be quieter than other types of public transportation. Trains are planned to run every 8 minutes during peak hours and every 10 minutes during non-peak hours.
The west end is of particular interest to the Chadwick and Woodlawn communities. The Red Line is currently proposed to begin at a station on Security Boulevard in front of CMS near the current bus stop. It will move above ground along the south side of Security Boulevard until it reaches the end of Security Square Mall by the Beltway. A second stop will be built there. Then it will cross over the Baltimore Beltway and onto the north side of I-70 to the next stop at Woodlawn Drive and I-70. That stop will service the Social Security Administration. It will then move along the north side of I-70 to the I-70 Park and Ride. There will be a fourth station there. Then it will go underground through one of two tunnels underneath Cooks Lane (one for each direction) and it will resurface onto Route 40 and continue heading towards downtown Baltimore. There are two videos on the Red Line web site that show some of the Red Line path.
That means there are four stations that could have a significant impact on the Woodlawn Community: CMS, Security Square Mall, Social Security Administration, and I-70 Park and Ride. The CMS station is in the middle of Chadwick Manor. A Station Area Advisory Committee (SAAC) has been established for each station to help plan the station and to consider its impact on the surrounding community. The committees vary in size, but most of them have around 15 people and are mostly made up of ordinary citizens that have volunteered to give their time to the community. The SAACs began meeting in the fall of 2010 and will meet until late 2011. The meetings are not open to the public at this time, but plans are being made to offer workshops for the public at a later date.
Comments concerning the CMS station can be submitted via email to the Chadwick Homeowners' Improvement Association and they will be passed on to the CMS SAAC if appropriate.
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