AMTRAK and the Federal Railroad Administration have spent the past year reviewing the design of the new Frederick Douglass rail tunnel to identify efficiencies. They will present the design changes at a public meeting on Wednesday (Sept. 16) at 6 p.m. at Mount Royal Elementary School.
The most notable change, according to Odessa Philips, who leads the project’s community outreach team, is eliminating the intermediate ventilation facility proposed at the corner of North Avenue and Eutaw Street. Reservoir Hill residents had filed suit to stop the ventilation installation near Dorothy I. Height Elementary School because of its potential negative impact on the school. The property will become a contractor staging area and will be turned over to the MTA for disposition once construction is complete.
Other design changes include reducing the maximum tunnel depth from 160 feet to 140 feet and providing more opportunities for parallel construction. Utility Relocation construction activities and site preparation for receiving the tunnel boring machines are underway, most visibly around the existing MARC West Baltimore Station. Two tunnel boring machines are currently under construction, one in Germany and the other in Italy, and will be shipped to Baltimore next year for construction in 2028.
The Frederick Douglass Tunnel will replace the existing B&O tunnel, which was constructed in the 1870’s. The new tunnel will consist of twin bores, approximately two miles long. Construction should be completed in 2036 at a cost of $6 billion dollars (2024 cost).
–Sallye Perrin
