Today at the briefing in front of the House Environment and Transportation Committee, Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn announced that The Northeast Maglev has whittled down its list of eligible, potential alignments to two: one alignment just west of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and one just east. The Secretary indicated that the preferred alignment at this point was the one to the east, which minimized impacts on residential property.

From the project website:

The Preliminary Alternatives Screening Analysis evaluated and eliminated certain alternatives based on Engineering Constraints (fatal flaws) and Environmental and Constructability Constraints. Based on this analysis and as presented at the October 2017 Open Houses, four alternative alignments are being recommended for detailed study (Three Build & No-Build), including:

•  No-Build Alternative

•  Alternative E1 (Amtrak Modified)

•  Alternative J (BWP Modified-East)

•  Alternative J1 (BWP Modified-West)

•  Alternative E1 has most recently been eliminated

Leadership for the project answered an arsenal of questions from committee members about project costs, impacts on neighborhoods, estimated costs to passengers, and plans for future community outreach. Delegate Anne Healey asked why the project planners had not engaged more with local government transportation departments. Project representatives indicated that they had invited all relevant county transportation departments to engage, and received responses from some but not all of them.