Baltimoreans react to Maryland governor's plan to resurrect the Red Line project
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore's Red Line project is on its way back to Charm City.
"I'm fine with it," Kendra Ockimey of Baltimore said. "I take public transportation."
The Red Line is a multi-billion dollar transit project, which would run from the west side of the city to the east side.
Gov. Wes Moore announced on Thursday that he was reviving the project, saying it would fill a transportation gap in the region and connect people to jobs and other resources.
"We need to make sure that everyone in the region can get from where they live to where opportunity lies," Moore said.
The Red Line has a long history in Baltimore. It's been in the works for more than two decades.
The project was canceled in 2015 by then-Gov. Larry Hogan. He forfeited federal money for the project and redirected most of the state funding to roads outside of the city.
Kendra Ockimey said she remembers hearing a lot of negative comments about the project back then.
"Everybody was mad about it," Ockimey said. "They were like, 'It's going to ruin what we already got.'"
She takes public transit from West Baltimore to Sparrows Point for work and hopes the Red Line will make her commute smoother.
"If it makes more ways for people to get to work and to get home and not be sitting out here for an hour, two hours at a time because something broke down, didn't show up, that kind of thing, I'm all for it," Ockimey said.
Moore said the public will get a chance to give their input on the project. Baltimoreans told WJZ that they hope their opinions are actually heard.
"It's more than just having a community listening session and serving lip service to the notion of listening to community," Nneka Nnamdi with the Stop Oppressive Seizures Fund said. "It is about actually centering community."
It will be several years before the project is complete.
The state must do an environmental study and apply for federal grants
