Ehrlich Seeks Study of Metro Line to BWI

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has proposed spending $1 million to study extending the Washington Metro through western Anne Arundel County, laying the groundwork to link the subway system to Baltimore and the burgeoning Fort George G. Meade area.

Buried in his six-year transportation plan released Jan. 18, Mr. Ehrlich proposed funding to determine the cost and feasibility of continuing the Green Line which now ends in Greenbelt, to Laurel, Odenton, Fort Meade and BWI Airport.

Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan said yesterday that the study will analyze how the Metro line would fit into existing growth plans and how to build public-private partnerships to pay for it.

"Part of the strategy here is to do the planning prior to the growth that's going to happen in the Baltimore-Washington corridor," he said. "It's important we plan that growth around the extension of Metro.

"It's a big deal for the governor. It's a big deal for me. It's a big deal for the region," Mr. Flanagan said. "It has the potential for bringing Baltimore and Washington into a single metropolitan area."

The first stage of the expansion would run from the last stop in Greenbelt to

Muirkirk Road in Laurel, about 7 miles away. There the subway would cross, and presumably connect with, the MARC train line, Interstate 95 and the planned Intercounty Connector. The 18-mile ICC will connect I-270 in Montgomery County with I-95 in Prince George's County.

"Along with the Intercounty Connector, this project will improve commutes for tens of thousands of Marylanders," Mr. Ehrlich said through a spokesman.

At a news conference scheduled for this afternoon, transportation officials also were to announce nearly $1 million to build a new platform for MARC, or the Maryland Area Rail Commuter line, in Laurel.

Transportation is the top concern of officials at the Defense Information Systems Agency, based in Northern Virginia, as it prepares to move to Fort Meade, County Executive Janet S. Owens said yesterday after a meeting with the agency in Annapolis.

There are 4,000 homes and 8 million square feet of office space in the pipeline in the county, she said. The federal military realignment will shift 5,000 jobs to the installation, and another 3,000 contractors could move for the DISA, Ms. Owens said.

"We've got to have all transportation options, and they've got to work and be effective and reliable," she said. "We are in the middle of a transformation, and transportation is the underpinning of that working."

Any construction on the Metro would be several years away. After the study is completed, a process begins to secure federal money, which normally takes about six years.

Walter Townsend, president of the Baltimore-Washington Chamber of Commerce, said it would be easy to hook up with Baltimore from the Metro stop at the airport via light rail, train or bus.

While businesses want a network that can accommodate new housing and jobs, the far-off construction may keep owners and employees from getting excited now, he said.

But the expansion of Fort Meade will begin in the next two to four years.

"We have to plan today for tomorrow," he said. "I think this is certainly a bold step that will bode well for the region."

Bruce McPherson, president of the Greater Odenton Improvement Association, said: "The Metro seems to be pretty much an inside-the-Beltway sort of phenomenon. (The expansion) sounds like an interesting possibility, although I could see it taking 10 years to accomplish."

The lack of a Metro consciousness in Anne Arundel isn't surprising, considering that the county doesn't even have a representative on its board or any stations.

Charles Deegan, a Metro board member who represents Prince George's County, said the first leg would cost about $485 million, and the whole project would come in upwards of $2.5 billion.

Often when the expansion of subway lines is discussed, so are concerns about it bringing crime from the city into the suburbs. In some places, people have worried that mass transit would encourage sprawl.

Scott Mobley, president of the Annapolis Neck Peninsula Federation, said he's not worried about sprawl. The challenge is to make sure stations are in dense areas with enough riders, he said.

Two examples where the crime issue has blocked plans to expand include Georgetown in downtown Washington and Old Town Alexandria in Virginia.

"Now they're really sorry," said County Councilman Barbara D. Samorajczyk, D-Annapolis Roads, a growth watchdog.

Del. David Boschert, R-Crownsville, whose district includes parts of west county, was delighted by the news, and thinking even bigger.

After all, Odenton is connected to Annapolis by Interstate 97, with the possibility of running light rail or some other mass transit down the median.

Mr. Boschert, a candidate for county executive, envisions a monorail like the one Walt Disney World has in Florida. It's about 14 miles long, roughly the same distance as Odenton to Parole. From there, shuttles running every 20 minutes could take people to and from downtown Annapolis, he said.

"It's thinking outside of the box," Mr. Boschert said. "Most people like the status quo. This county is a 21st century county, and we've got to be thinking in 21st century terms."

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