Mayor Martin O'Malley has authorized a 60-day effort to reassess the City of Baltimore's selected plan for the reconstruction of Charles Street from 25th Street to University Parkway. This website has been established to help share information on this reassessment.

Following presentation of the City's Selected Plan in June of 2002, several institutions and organizations expressed concern that the selected plan needed to better address pedestrian safety and traffic calming. While this selected plan was the result of a comprehensive public planning process conducted in 2000 and 2001 and addressed traffic capacity, pedestrian safety, preservation/enhancement of greenspace, and retention of parking, refinements to this plan now merit further discussion.

Because of financial constraints in Baltimore City's capital budget, the City must be in a position to commit these Charles Street Reconstruction funds to an accepted plan in early 2003; otherwise, these funds will be reallocated to other high-priority transportation projects throughout the City. Therefore, it is within the framework of this 60-day reevaluation that, Deputy Mayor Laurie Schwartz has asked David Wallace to lead an effort to develop a revised plan which can hopefully be supported by all stakeholder groups. David's role is strictly to seek consensus among the stakeholders. Final decisions and funding of the recommended plan rest solely with Deputy Mayor Laurie Schwartz and Office of Transportation Director Al Foxx. If consensus is reached, Baltimore City will then initiate design activities on the new compromise plan.