How will Metro handle a real emergency? Re: “Flooding, faulty pumps shut down Blue/Yellow lines,” Aug. 15
We experienced firsthand the early-morning chaos at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that followed the failure of the Metro tunnel pumps. Four hours after flooding disrupted rail service on the Yellow Line, we disembarked, cheek-to-jowl with other passengers already on the platform, and walked down a broken escalator.
The sole Metro employee at the bottom yelled above the din that the trains were running in either direction from the platform on the opposite side, but the lone employee there said that information was wrong. So we walked down a second inoperative escalator and joined the throngs waiting outside for shuttle buses to the Braddock Road station.
Any number of problems can disrupt Metro service. Fortunately, all we lost last Monday was time, but the transit agency’s slow response, understaffing, garbled announcements and contradictory information could have been disastrous in a bona fide emergency, especially for disabled passengers. All point to a lack of adequate preparation and Metro’s need to perform much, much better in the future.
John Hammond
Washington
State Center project is morally, fiscally responsible
Re: “Maryland’s State Center project is risky business,” Aug. 10
When originally constructed, the 1950s-era State Center complex inserted a concrete wasteland that divided nine historic Baltimore neighborhoods and impeded development in the area. These buildings are now obsolete and the time is right to fix this historic error. Maryland chose to pursue revitalization of this section of Baltimore rather than add to its devastation by abandonment in a fiscally responsible manner. A six-year public process resulted in a consensus plan to convert the complex into a privately owned mixed-use development, including housing and retail, with the state as the anchor tenant, at the intersection of Baltimore’s two transit lines. In 2010, the Congress for New Urbanism named it one of the seven best redevelopment projects in the world.
Contrary to inaccurate claims by opponents, the project — which enjoys near-universal support — does not include significant state subsidies. Maryland will pay rent at the low end of the market for new construction and build a state-owned garage primarily for its employees, with other users paying market-rate parking fees. However, a handful of well-resourced downtown Baltimore building owners brought suit in December just before groundbreaking, claiming that it could compete with them. The litigation has delayed financing of the project.
The partisan Maryland Public Policy Institute contends that the state should vacate the site and disperse state agencies into existing buildings in an effort to achieve lower office rents. However, this approach was considered and rejected by two state and three city administrations because it would decimate an important section of Baltimore while also hampering state operations.
Opponents’ sole policy argument — that such a move could save money — ignores the fact that the new ground rents and taxes make the project fiscally competitive.
Michael Gaines
Assistant secretary for real estate, Maryland Department of General Services
Christopher Patusky
State Center Project director, Maryland Department of Transportation
Obama’s class warfare doesn’t jibe with vacation
Re: “WH says Obama to vacation in Martha’s Vineyard,” Aug. 10
Even President Obama is entitled to a vacation. But out of respect for the people who are unemployed, he should not make it so Martha’s Vineyard. He should scale down his lifestyle like he has scaled down the wealth of the nation.
More than 300 million Americans are watching his choices. Why make such a bad one as hobnobbing with the rich on an upscale island while hypocritically engaging in class warfare against those same rich people?
David Lawrence
New York City
