Critical Upgrade

An innovative solution to the shipping bottleneck caused by the Howard Street Tunnel under Baltimore will significantly increase cargo container traffic through the Port of Baltimore to the tune of $425 million. This figure is a major reduction from the original $1 billion proposal. The solution will make the port more competitive and create thousands of local jobs, according to railroad and Maryland state officials.

Moving Forward

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan expects the federal government will pay for part of the project.

Currently, the more-than-a-century-old Howard Street Tunnel only can accommodate single-stack cargo containers. The 1.7-mile underground tunnel runs from Camden Yards, the Baltimore Orioles’ baseball stadium, north to the Maryland Institute College of Art. There are nine obstructions in the tunnel, and it frequently floods, according to a CSX official.

“The tunnel is 19-feet-high, but it needs to be 21-feethigh to make it double-stack,” Brian Hammock, vice president for state and government affairs at CSX Corp., said during a presentation at the Greater Washington Board of Trade Outlook conference. “Double-stacks really can create a great opportunity for the Port of Baltimore to realize its full potential with container traffic.”

The tunnel reconstruction work will take four to five years. “We need to lower track and raise clearance,” Hammock said. “It sounds simple, but is actually very difficult.”

CSX has embarked on $850 million public-private partnership to upgrade the railroad’s infrastructure, including the Howard Street Tunnel, that Hammock said would create 50,000 jobs and eliminate 20 million tons of carbon dioxide. The initiative includes 61 clearance projects and intermodal projects.

One critical project CSX recently completed is the Virginia Avenue Tunnel in Washington, DC’s Southeast quadrant. The single-track, single-stack tunnel was replaced by a tunnel that can accommodate two trains double-stacked. The Virginia Avenue Tunnel opened up cargo train transport to the Southeast and Chicago.

The only single-stack tunnel that will be left to revamp is the Howard Street Tunnel, Hammock said. Maryland has committed $145 million to the project while CSX, which owns and maintains the tunnel, will contribute $125 million, he added.

Earlier this year, the Maryland Department of Transportation applied for a federal grant for the remaining $155 million, but the US Department of Transportation rejected the application. Nevertheless, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has said that the federal government will help pay for part of the total $425 million project.

“We’re working on a funding solution, but we’re not waiting for funding to come in place,” Hammock said. “We are moving forward on a couple pieces of this project. We don’t want to skip a beat.”

Countless studies have been done that showed rais- ing the tunnel’s height would cost $1 billion to $3 billion and would close it for five years. However, according to Hammock, a CSX engineer said, “I think we figured out a way to clear the tunnel for one-fourth of the cost without disrupting the public.” A feasibility study conducted in the fall of 2015 showed the engineer was right.

The solution: Replace the wood cross-ties with steel ones to shave off several inches; lower the tunnel floor; and trim the ceilings and rounded archways to accommodate rectangular-shaped shipping containers. The solution also came with a lower price of $425 million.

CSX will use the first $21 million of its contribution to modify the tunnel’s drainage system and to move some city infrastructure, a critical first step in raising the tunnel. The railroad company also will invest another $4 million on advance engineering plans.

Maryland officials estimate that the tunnel-raising project would create 500 construction jobs over a fiveyear period. Following completion of the project, the Port of Baltimore would handle an additional 80,000 containers annually and create about 3,000 jobs as a result of increased business.

In terms of tonnage, the Port of Baltimore is the 13th largest US port and largest on the East Coast, according to Kathy Broadwater, deputy executive director of the Maryland Port Administration. The port supports 13,650 direct jobs and 20,270 induced or indirect jobs.

The Howard Street Tunnel project has taken on even more importance because the Port of Baltimore is one of only three ports on the East Coast that can handle large container ships sailing from the newly expanded Panama Canal, Broadwater said.

“East Coast ports already started getting big ships even before the Panama Canal enlarged. The route is economical for shipping lines and does not have size restrictions,” she said. “We expect the Howard Street Tunnel project will make us more competitive.”

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