ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — Storm damage has completely shut down the Cromwell Light Rail Station in Anne Arundel County, forcing roughly 1,300 daily riders to find alternative transportation following intense weekend storms.
Storm shuts down Cromwell Light Rail Station in Anne Arundel County
More than a mile of damage lines Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard, where a streetlight is blocking a lane of traffic and multiple utility poles have fallen onto the road and onto the light rail tracks.
Natalie Simmons is one of the riders who depends on the station to get to and from work.
"It looks like a tornado passed through here. I've never seen anything like this," Simmons said. "I was not expecting this to be this bad."
The Maryland Transit Administration has directed riders to buses 69 and 70 and launched a shuttle service that stops at 8th Avenue and Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard in response to the closure.
"Have to get up earlier, and on the weekends I know it's gonna be absolutely insane," Simmons said.
MTA Chief Operating Officer Joe Davis said the storm carved a path of destruction directly along the light rail corridor.
"The storm just went right down the light rail tracks and just ripped down anything in its way," Davis said. "They all came to rest on the overhead power lines for the light rail system."
A BGE spokesperson said crews are working as quickly as possible to repair approximately 25 damaged or broken utility poles ranging from 65 to 100 feet tall.
They have to complete those repairs before the MTA can even begin to get the trains back up and running.
"That allows us to come in and do our damage assessment, start doing our repair work, and state highway, in conjunction with us, will start doing intersection repair," Davis said.
So how long will that take?
"That's a very tough question because we have about 3/4 of a mile of overhead wire that's been ripped down; we have to restring all of that and rebalance it," Davis said. "We have to balance it really incrementally, so that when we do flip the switch and get trains moving again, it'll be done safely."
A shuttle to BWI is planned to begin Wednesday. Davis is asking for patience as crews work as fast as possible.
Simmons said she is bracing for a long wait.
"Very inconvenienced, but what can you do about a storm? You can't be mad at anyone. It's nature, it happens, so gotta push through," Simmons said.
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