Many of the main routes through midtown Baltimore are closed this weekend for the annual Artscape festival, forcing vehicle detours and the rerouting of several bus lines.
The final street closings for the three-day festival, which began as early as last week, went into effect this morning. At 11 a.m. today, the city Department of Transportation was poised to start service on a special Artscape route of the Charm City Circulator, roughly following the perimeter of the sprawling festival. Meanwhile, the north-south Purple Route has been modified so that it turns around at Biddle Street rather than going on to Penn Station.
The city arts fair has grown to encompass much of the area around the station, the University of Baltimore and the Maryland Institute College of Art. Among the major routes that have been partly closed are Charles Street, Maryland Avenue and Mount Royal Avenue.
The following streets are closed for the festival, which is expected to attract an estimated 350,000 visitors, and will not reopen until Tuesday at 4 p.m.:
•Dolphin Street between Mount Royal Avenue and Howard Street.
•Mount Royal Avenue between North Avenue and Charles Street.
•Cathedral Street from north of Preston Street to Mount Royal Avenue.
•Oliver Street from Maryland Avenue to Mount Royal Avenue.
Streets that are closed until Monday at 6 a.m. include:
•Charles Street from Biddle Street to Lafayette Street, along with the ramp leading to Interstate 83.
•Mount Royal Avenue from St. Paul Street to Charles Street.
•Lanvale Street between Maryland Avenue and Lovegrove Street.
Also closed this weekend are:
•Maryland Avenue between North and Preston streets.
•The south side of Lafayette Street from Charles Street to St. Paul Street.
•Preston Street from Maryland Avenue to Cathedral Street (with access to the Meyerhoff Garage maintained).
•Lafayette Street between Mount Royal Avenue and Rutter Street.
•Lanvale Street between Mount Royal Avenue and Rutter Street.
Detours and special traffic patterns will be in effect throughout the festival area. The city will also use what it calls a "traffic chute" outside festival hours to allow access to the I-83 ramp from Penn Drive.
Officials are encouraging Artscape visitors to use public transit to attend, noting that the light rail Mount Royal stop leads right to the festival grounds. The festival is also served by the Circulator bus, the Metro subway's State Center/Cultural Center stop and several Maryland Transit Administration bus lines.
The MTA said street closings will force it to reroute Routes No. 3, 11, 21 and 61 — all of which serve the festival area — through 6 a.m. Monday. The festival is also served by Routes No. 13, 19, 27 and 64, which will not have to be diverted.