The developer of a $12 billion high-speed train connecting Baltimore and D.C. is ready to establish a 40-mile right of way for the project.
Louis Berger, the New Jersey-based engineering firm working with Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail — which wants to build a superconducting magnetic levitation train whisking passengers between the cities in 15 minutes — is seeking a subcontractor to identify and assess a right of way for two routes along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. The subcontractor would work through easements and parcels needing to be acquired and perform economic impact studies for transit-oriented development projects around maglev stations, among other tasks. Berger envisions three phases for this work, with a subcontractor performing services via task orders and time-and-materials agreements, according to a request for proposals issued earlier this month.
The RFP signals additional momentum for the closely watched project, seen by some as an ambitious antidote to Greater Washington’s transportation gridlock. Others see it as cost-prohibitive and doomed to red tape roadblocks. Or both.
Nothing, however, happens before an environmental impact statement is crafted and gets run through a host of state and local approvals. This right-of-way process will run concurrently with the impact statement work.