WEST BALTIMORE MARC STATION:
ADA INACCESIBILITY
“The West Baltimore MARC station is the only station on the Penn Line between Baltimore and Washington that is not compliant with the federal Americans with Disability Act (or ADA). How are we to understand that? How is it that we’ve gone decades now without simple wooden ramps being built to the platform, and with no timetable in sight for that critical deficiency to be remedied?”
The Law Requires It
The first ADA accessibility law was passed in 1990 and there have been subsequent updates several times since. In those intervening years, the State of Maryland has found a way to update every station on MARC's Penn Line between Baltimore and Washington with proper ADA-compliant access EXCEPT West Baltimore. HUB West Baltimore has asked state leaders why this glaring deficiency has not been corrected in an area that’s arguably already the most disinvested in the state - and 90% black in an area that was ground zero for redlining and institutional racism? The answer is always that we must wait until the station is fully rebuilt as part of the larger Douglass/B&P Tunnel project - potentially another 10 years or more from now.
For the disabled residents of central West Baltimore - and indeed for all residents in this part of the city - that timeline is not acceptable. Not only does the Office of Civil Rights of the Federal Transit Administration point out that, “inaccessible pedestrian environments make communities less livable and desirable for everyone,” but the law in fact required that this work be completed long before now.
The Money Is There
Temporary ADA access at West Baltimore could be achieved simply and cheaply with wooden deck-type ramps adjacent to the current stairways, and two concrete “mini-high” ramps at the platform level for train boarding. The cost would be effectively peanuts for the state, but in any case, regardless of the final price tag, it may end up costing the state nothing. Why? That same bipartisan infrastructure bill passed this fall funding the big tunnel project (among other things) also set aside $1.75 billion dollars to ensure “accessibility at the nation’s transit stations”. West Baltimore’s MARC station would seem to be a prime candidate for a portion of that money. The question remains though, is the state currently applying for those funds to fix this problem?