A Harford County councilman is lobbying state officials to move up the timetable for rebuilding the MARC train station in Edgewood.
Councilman Dion F. Guthrie said he was disappointed to learn the $4.2 million project has been rescheduled for 2011 and even that date, he added, does not guarantee "shovels in the ground."
"This station needs to be remodeled, and we have to get it started," Guthrie said. "I don't know why the state can't keep this in the budget with all the taxes raised recently. It's been on and off track for the last few years, and now the state has derailed it."
In a recent meeting with Gov. Martin O'Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Guthrie stressed the critical need for a modernized station, as the first wave of the nationwide military expansion, known as BRAC, begins arriving at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Transportation officials anticipate an increase in train ridership as some 10,000 new jobs come to the Army post.
Despite the current limited hours of operation and destinations, about 360 passengers take a train each day from Edgewood, the highest ridership of any station north of Baltimore, officials said.
The governor assured Guthrie he will do everything he can to get the station, which is now a weathered trailer and a small cinderblock building, built as soon as possible, the councilman said.
Harry J. Romano II, project planner for the Maryland Transit Administration, said the timing of the station has not changed.
"Idealistically, we could be ready for construction by 2009," he said. "It is a fairly simple project. Once it gets rolling, it should move through quickly. It is not as though we are putting in new platforms or realigning track."
MTA engineers are expected to begin design work as early as this week, Romano said. That phase of the project could take as long as 18 months to complete, particularly since designers must coordinate their efforts with Amtrak, owner of the rails and much of the surrounding property.
"Coordinating with Amtrak is the unknown in the timing of this project," Romano said. "Historically, these projects take a long time. Amtrak must review the plans to make sure everything fits with their guidelines. Construction must be coordinated with them as well."
Guthrie's concerns rose from information he found in the state's Consolidated Transportation Program, which says the project is "delayed due to redesign requirements" and moved from fiscal 2008 to 2011.
"That information might not be up to date and there could be budgeting adjustments," Romano said.
Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich promised a 2007 groundbreaking at the site of the run-down station, which has been shuttered for more than a decade. Plans that would take about a year to build called for a new depot featuring an automated ticket counter, a waiting area and restrooms.
The promise has been delayed twice, even though ridership has increased, Guthrie said.
On their annual visit to the county last fall, state transportation officials said they planned to open the unmanned facility by 2010. Plans include an expanded 300-space parking lot - wide enough to accommodate at least two 40-foot buses at a time.
Transportation planners are looking to mass transit to alleviate projected traffic congestion, particularly on the Interstate 95 corridor, as BRAC brings an estimated 30,000 more residents to Harford County.
At an open house in Edgewood in November, state officials unveiled the proposed design that included a landscaped path to the platform. At that time, Romano said groundbreaking would be in 2009.
"The schedule presented at the open house is still valid," he said last week.
mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com