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Comm + Unity
Comm + Unity
Comm + Unity
COMM
UNITY
a bottom-up approach to
environmental justice and
transportation
2 EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION EJ 3
WHAT IS
ENVIRONMENTAL
JUSTICE?
4 EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
We Believe
THE PROJECT
OBJECTIVE:
Since 2003, the Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation
(BREJT) Project has been listening to low-income, minority communities describe
the impact that transportation has on their environment and in their lives.
Our primary objective has been to develop a toolkit, which encourages government
and communities to better work together to achieve environmentally sound solu-
tions when addressing community identified transportation issues.
The purpose of this toolkit is to provide a public participation framework, perfor-
mance measures, and analytical tools that can be used by communities, planners and
professionals to enhance environmental justice evaluation and assessment and lead
to decisions that are more equitable.
Our research efforts focused on the concerns of local residents, transit dependent
and community leaders on four case studies throughout Baltimore:
Kirk Avenue Bus Yard (Midway Community)
Transit access (Cherry Hill)
Highway to Nowhere (West Baltimore)
Public involvement and Pedestrian Safety (Lexington Market)
In talking with members of these communities we found concerns regarding blight
and decay, as well as a common desire for a better living environment, a more
responsive government, and more meaningful public participation. This meaning-
ful involvement occurs when low-income communities are better positioned to
argue, defend and anticipate the social, economic, or environmental consequences of
project improvements.
From the Baltimore experience there is a clear message that communities which are
motivated, well organized and educated on the issues bring a sense of ownership to
the table that can positively influence the transportation decision making process.
www.brejtp.org
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION PROJECT 7
8 EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION PROJECT 9
Call To Action
KIRK
AVENUE
BUS YARD
X
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION KIRK AVE 11
INTRODUCTION
The Midway Community is one in which residential and industrial uses collide. The Kirk
Avenue bus yard has been a point of contention between the surrounding community and the
Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) for some time. The primary complaints have to do
with the impact of noise and emissions from bus operations on the community and its resi-
dents. The bus yard is located between industrial land to the north and east and residential
neighborhoods to the west and south, that seem to have somewhat receded over time. What
is not clear is the extent to which the operations at the Kirk Avenue bus yard have directly
caused the decline of the neighborhood.
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
- Residents complain that the noise levels - Quality of life has declined for many
at the bus yard are too high and are hav- residents due to an inability to
ing physiological health impacts. fully use their homes because of
- Concerns about the impacts of engine exhaust and noise. Examples cited were:
idling on residents’ respiratory health. A Not being able to open windows
number of residents have asthma and in rooms facing bus yard; No one
some have died of cancer. with any respiratory problems
can sleep in the back rooms; and
- Bus yard is too close t0 homes–The Kirk No backyard cookouts.
Avenue bus yard is 1 of 3 MTA bus yards
located in/near residential areas. - Community representatives have ap-
pealed to the MTA on numerous
- Residents concerned about impact of occasions to address these conditions
bus yard on property values, as the bus but feel their concerns are not being
yard is perceived as having a negative resolved or at time, even considered.
impact upon the community.
community impacts:
oise + Air Pollution
N lution didn’t exceed the federal standard,
- Noise pollution noted at bus yard: the 2 week average indicates that the
Announcements over loud speakers annual standard may be exceeded.
Engines running throughout day and
- The effects of air pollution put residents
night
at an increased risk for adverse health
Repairs and servicing
effects. Related illnesses and doc-
- Recorded noise levels exceeded the tor/hospital visits were documented and
Baltimore City ordinance levels during mapped.
both day and night, nearly every day
Property Values
tested. Noise levels were higher during
- Property values are lower in the 1/4 mile
night hours, especially on weekends.
residential area surrounding the bus
This could affect residents’ health (loss
yard, particularly given that houses are
of sleep, high levels of stress, etc).
larger units than those in the surround-
- Although the daily average of air pol- ing area.
The Kirk Avenue bus yard is a good example of why bus yards
do not make ideal neighbors when located adjacent to the back-
yards of residents. The likelihood of considerable noise and
exhaust from the buses can cause residents to have great concern
for their quality of life and health.
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION KIRK AVE 13
14 EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
Community Voice
CHERRY
HILL
X
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION CHERY HILL 17
INTRODUCTION
The Cherry Hill community is located in the southern section of Baltimore City, south of
the Inner Harbor/Central Business District of Baltimore City. The Cherry Hill community
was established in the late 1940’s when the Housing Authority of Baltimore City chose it
as a site of a federal project for African American war workers migrating from the South.
In those days of segregated housing, no neighborhood in the city was available for an influx
of African Americans. Today , Cherry Hill is a mostly residential area with apartment
complexes, row houses, and public housing projects. Some of the public housing has been
demolished leaving large tracts of land in the middle of the community that can be redevel-
oped in the future.
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
- Decreased transit access overall. - Light rail service has improved travel time
to jobs in the BWI corridor.
- Major areas of E. Baltimore inaccessible
within 1 hour of travel time. - Overall access to jobs for transit dependent
households in Cherry Hill has declined.
- Access to substantial areas of N.E. Balti-
more are no longer reachable without at
least one hour of travel time.
18 EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
Summary
Community Voice
LEXINGTON
MARKET
X
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION 23
INTRODUCTION
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
- Public felt it had been marginalized and - Public are concerned about exposure to
left out of the decision-making process vehicle exhaust as they walk to connect
- Commercial interests were given prefer- with buses
ence over community well-being - Pedestrians have to navigate busy street
- Shoppers complained they had to walk traffic to visit market or transfer between
longer distances to connect with buses transit services.
tr ansportation statistics:
- The crosswalk at Lexington Street is not crossing without a signal difficult and
signalized. This crosswalk supports ma- dangerous.
jor pedestrian traffic made up from visi-
- Pedestrian counts taken at the same time
tors and transit users.
show over 500 pedestrians crossing
- A 1996 City of Baltimore traffic report Eutaw Street. Given the narrow
documents that 600-800 vehicles travel sidewalks, these high volumes of
every hour along Eutaw Street in front pedestrians and vehicles make for
of Lexington Market. This amounts to congested conditions.
one vehicle every 4-6 seconds, making
assesment & recommendations:
- Some hardship may have been visited making process
upon riders to Lexington Market as a Implement improved process for
result of the movement of bus stops. notifying and involving transit
However, further information is needed riders of proposed changes to bus
to assess the actual impacts. stops
- What is evident is the community was - Due to high traffic volumes, pedestrian
not included in the decision-making safety remains a concern for both transit
process of moving the bus stops. These riders and visitors. Recommend the
“issues of process” are more a concern following to address these concerns:
from an environmental justice perspec -
Collect updated traffic counts to
tive than the movement of the stops
determine current safety issues
themselves, since they show a lack of
between pedestrian and vehicle traffic.
consideration for an inclusive process.
Recommend the following: Identify and evaluate alternatives to
improve pedestrian safety and access.
Research ways to improve decision-
Summary
The public rightly felt that it had been marginalized by the decision-
making process, and that commercial interests (such as a parking lot
adjacent to the Market) were given preference over their well being.
Upon review of the situation, initial concerns about serious conges-
tion and health effects due to prolonged exposure to vehicle activity –
as framed in initial community discussions – appeared less severe than
initially portrayed.
26 LEXINGTON MARKET EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
Community Voice
WE ARE FORCED
We are exposed to TO WALK LON-
vehicle exhaust GER DISTANCES
TO CONNECT
WITH BUSES
WE WERE
NOT INVITED
TO TAKE PART
We are ex-
posed to
weather
Commercial interests
were more important We have to walk
along busy streets
than community needs while carrying
packages
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION 27
28 HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
HIGHWAY
TO
NOWHERE
X
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION 29
INTRODUCTION
The “Highway to Nowhere” is a massive section of roadway that begins on the western edge
of downtown Baltimore and heads due west out of the city as part of US Route 40 through
neighborhoods of Poppleton, Harlem Park, Lafayette Square and Rosemont. Once the
starting point of an ambitous plan to connect I-95, as it passes through Baltimore, with I-70,
which terminates at the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) in the west, the highway would have been
called as I-170. However, the plan ran out of momentum and support before it could proceed
beyond the railway line, and thus it remains to this day–almost 30 years after it was opened to
traffic – a grade-separated superhighway that is only 1.4 miles long.
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
- The Highway to Nowhere is a ditch that - The city and state have allowed the area
cut the community into two halves. to decay over the last 30 years and noth-
- The creation of the Highway to No- ing significant has been done to help
where led to a decline in property values correct the mistake of the highway.
and in increase in abandoned buildings. - Residents fear being displaced again
- There has been an increase in crime, when new improvements are introduced.
especially drug-related.
Summary
Thirty years after the Highway to Nowhere was constructed there is still
community memory of the distruction and a palpable bitterness about what
was done.
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION 31
32 HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
Community Voice
IT DOES NOT
We were not
ADD ANYTHING included in the
TO OUR decisions
COMMUNITY
We do not want to be a
victim to another failed Make a concerted
or poorly-planned major effort to work
infrastructure project with community
and redevelop
and improve area
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION 33
34 CONCLUSION EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
Call To Action
We Are Our
Environment
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION 35
36 CONCLUSION EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
Define it!
Document it!
Prioritize it!
Analyze it! Define
the
Analyze
Data &
Develop
Solutions Triage
and Set
Priorities
Toolkit
Toolkit
CONCLUSION
CONTACT
For more information about the Baltimore Regional Environmental Justice in Transportation
Project please visit www.brejtp.org or contact one of the organizations listed below.
Baltimore Metropolitan Council
Environmental Justice Partnership, Inc.
Greater Baltimore Urban League
Johns Hopkins Center in Urban Environmental Health
Morgan State University
Institute for Urban Research
School of Engineering
National Transportation Center
You can also contact Glenn Robinson, Principal Investigator, Morgan State University at:
443-885-1039 or glenn.robinson@morgan.edu
LEXINGTON MARKET HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE CONCLUSION 43
44 CONCLUSION EJ PROJECT KIRK AVE CHERY HILL
DISCLAIMER
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the BREJT Project Team in the interest of
information exchange. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Morgan State
University, Baltimore Metropolitan Council, Maryland Department of Transportation or the Baltimore
City Department of Transportation and no official endorsement by these agencies should be inferred.
This guide contains recommended practice but does not constitute a standard, specification, or regula-
tion.