The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board wants to amend the regional Transportation Improvement Program in order to fund a complete overhaul of the Kirk Division Bus Facility between Homewood Avenue and Kirk Avenue south of 25th St. Whether this amendment is adopted may depend upon local opposition to or support of the plan.
The Kirk Division facility was constructed just after World War II, and the BRTB aims to update it to accomodate new hybrid buses, reduce pollution in the surrounding area, and make for less parking spillover into adjacent neighborhoods, among other new features. According to BRTB, these are the basic changes involved in the project:
- Storing buses indoors
- Performing bus cleaning, fueling, and maintenance inside new facilities
- Reducing noise and air quality impacts by containing most bus circulation within buildings
- Providing on-site employee parking to reduce spill-over parking on local streets in the neighborhood
- Increasing efficiency of operations through modern maintenance bays for articulated and hybrid buses
- Improving the appearance of the facility and grounds
The environmental effects of the existing facility are very relevant. Although pollution from the facility is not mentioned in its neighborhood health profile, the Midway/Coldstream neighborhood that contains the Kirk Avenue facility is in the most unhealthy third of city neighborhoods in all but five health outcomes categories.
These changes are significant enough to affect the areas surrounding Kirk Division for generations, so please consider attending a public meeting on the amendment or submitting a comment to the BRTB in order to make sure community voices are heard.
The public meeting will be held:
Wednesday, August 15th
4-6:30pm (two presentations, one at 4 and one at 5:30)
Church of St. Ann
528 East 22nd St. Baltimore, MD 21218
Alternatively, you can submit a written public comment about the project by August 22nd to:
The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board
Offices @ McHenry Row
1500 Whetstone Way, Suite 300
Baltimore, MD 21230
or to comments@baltmetro.org or to www.baltometro.org/bboard/
More resources about the proposed Kirk Division overhaul:
Project fact sheet (.pdf)
MTA Environmental Assessment (.pdf)
Baltimore Business Journal article on the project
