The 148-year old tunnel, which slows trains to 30 miles per hour, is the biggest bottleneck between Washington, D.C. and New Jersey.

Maryland's "decrepit Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel" could soon be getting an upgrade after "Amtrak and Maryland announced an agreement Friday on a $4 billion plan to build a replacement in the next decade." As Luz Lazo writes in the Washington Post, "[t]he 148-year-old tunnel under West Baltimore is a major bottleneck for Amtrak, Maryland’s MARC commuter trains and commercial rail traffic that moves through the Northeast Corridor."
As "[o]ne of the oldest structures in the Northeast rail corridor, the B&P tunnel is a crucial piece of the network connecting Washington to Boston, moving more than 259 million passengers each year." But the 1.4-mile tunnel slows trains to 30 miles per hour as they pass through, making the tunnel "the biggest chokepoint between Washington and New Jersey." The tunnel also "has critical structural problems, including water issues and brick deterioration, according to a federal review of the project." The new tunnel would only accommodate electric trains, and "Maryland officials said the state agreed to electrify all MARC trains by the time the tunnel would open in as early as 2032."
"The proposal is a scaled-down version of a plan approved four years ago by the Federal Railroad Administration that called for four single-track tunnel tubes. Railroad officials say by building only two tunnels, the project will save $1 billion and up to two years on construction while still tripling train capacity to accommodate future demand." To move forward, Amtrak and state leaders must still secure state and federal funding for the project.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

How Trump's HUD Budget Proposal Would Harm Homelessness Response
Experts say the change to the HUD budget would make it more difficult to identify people who are homeless and connect them with services, and to prevent homelessness.

The Vast Potential of the Right-of-Way
One writer argues that the space between two building faces is the most important element of the built environment.

Florida Seniors Face Rising Homelessness Risk
High housing costs are pushing more seniors, many of them on a fixed income, into homelessness.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont