HANOVER, MD – Due to weather-related cancellations on January 23, 28 and 30, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), Amtrak and the Baltimore City Department of Transportation will host two make up Baltimore and Potomac (B&P) Tunnel Project Study Public Hearings and extend the comment period an additional week.  

 

The hearings are scheduled to take place:

 

Frederick Douglass High School                

Main Auditorium                                        

2301 Gwynns Falls Parkway                     

Baltimore, MD 21217            

 

Carver Vocational-Technical High School

Main Auditorium

2201 Presstman Street
Baltimore, MD 21216

 

In the event the February 17 hearing is canceled, another hearing will be held on Saturday, 

February 20, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Carver Vocational-Technical High School. 

 

The same information will be available at each hearing.  The public is encouraged to stop by to review displays, talk to staff about the project and alternatives under consideration and provide formal comments.  

Public input is vital to helping identify the preferred alternative.  Comments about the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) may be made at a public hearing, online or in writing.  

 

The DEIS presents the project’s purpose and need, analysis of the alternatives retained for further study and an assessment of environmental considerations of these alternatives.  At the hearings, a stenographer will be available to those who wish to provide private verbal testimony. 

 

 

The public can learn about what to expect at the hearings, view the DEIS and review images of the public hearing informational boards by visiting the B&P Tunnel website, bptunnel.com.    

 

The B&P Tunnel Project is a federally-funded engineering and environmental study examining needed improvements to the 142-year-old tunnel.  The two-track tunnel is located between the West Baltimore MARC Station and Penn Station along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) in Baltimore, Maryland.  

 

The DEIS has been prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).   The FEIS is anticipated next fall and the Record of Decision is expected in spring 2017.  The project is not currently funded for construction. 

 

 

Media Contacts:

 

FRA Public Affairs

202-493-6024

 

MDOT - Erin Henson & Teri Moss

410-865-1028

 

Amtrak – Chelsea Kopta

202-906-3730

 

Baltimore City - Adrienne Barnes

410-361-9296