It’s Immaterial What Residents of Towson and Timonium Want

Al Ritter 

In the late 1980’s at the end of Democratic Governor Donald Schaefer’s term he signed into law the Light Rail System to offer transportation from as far south as Glen Burnie and Anne Arundel County to Timonium Md. In the original charter the Light Rail had to pay for its operational costs with at least 50% of customer fares. That rather modest demand has never been met.

Light Rail has undergone improvements and upgrades since its inception, most notably an extension to Hunt Valley. On any given weekday the three to four car rail train can be seen whizzing by with less than 5 people aboard.

Since 2011 the ridership has steadily declined, but that has never stopped the Democratic legislature from continually throwing more money at a clearly failed project.

Neighborhood residents have constantly complained about increased crime surrounding the Light Rail stops all to no avail. The last stop on the line is Hunt Valley Mall to the north. After an upgrade to the line between the Lutherville-Timonium stop in the last decade the Light Rail was shut down on the last link. Crime and shoplifting had noticeably dropped in that time, only to continue after the link reopened.

The Light Rail transports less than 9,900 people on weekdays on its 30 mile length.

Late last fall the Department of Transportation submitted a plan to put a spur line through the center of an already overly vehicular congested York Rd. The tight confines of the York Rd. corridor would be strained to the max with the addition of two rails in the middle of the road.

This crazy idea worsens when one realizes that something has to go. Buildings are already close to the street and sidewalks are narrow. This doesn’t even address the additional danger for pedestrians and vehicles alike.

A meeting was held at Timonium Fairgrounds in early December 2022. Over 500 people crammed into a small meeting area to voice their dismay at such a project. Only 3 people of the 500 in attendance supported this new spur line. It appeared that the project would be dead.

Enter the First Black Democratic Governor Wes Moore. Although he has never lived in the area in question he included $500 million in his first annual budget for Transportation upgrades. He was an opponent of Gov Hogan’s cancellation of the Red Line which was merely another line similar to the already failed Light Rail.

In recent years Towson has become quite the mecca for attracting crime from farther south. The Movie Theatres along York Rd. along with Towson Towne Center have been the areas for car jackings and even murders.

But Gov Moore seems to think that he knows best and intends to ramrod this project through regardless of what the residents think. He must believe that this already failed line will increase ridership even though bus lines already serve all the areas in question.

The spur will have to be connected to the main line somewhere and also return somewhere. When the State decides to take million dollar homes through eminent domain in Ruxton and Timonium we will see who gets most upset in this idiotic idea.

The only question that remains is which will Gov Moore fund first…..the Red Line or the Towson spur?

Read about Gov Moore here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Moore

Read about the Light Rail System here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Light_RailLink

Residents push back on Towson spur line:

https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/bs-md-mta-transit-proposals-20221216-lck26umhrffrlpjfyvvqnxorcm-story.html

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/local-government/lutherville-timonium-development-transit-LSQ4KHJDNFAJLGALU62T4GOLDI/