Maryland DOT Backs Major Odenton Transit-Oriented Plan

Maryland DOT pushes the Odenton TOD plan ahead by choosing a development team that links new housing, daily transit use, and long-horizon tax growth in one tightly planned station district.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Maryland DOT Pushes Odenton Toward Transit-Focused Growth

Developers now sit down with state and county officials to rethink a 10-acre surface lot next to the MARC platforms. They sketch out buildings, streets, and open spaces around the Penn Line, not around parked cars.

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The concept includes 585 apartments, more than 30,000 square feet of retail, and about 180,000 square feet of public and amenity space. For many commuters, that means shops and services on the way home.

The agency puts the early project cost at $200 million, a figure that shows how the state views Odenton’s role between Baltimore and Washington. Officials also tie the effort to the 2024 MARC Penn Line Strategy.

That strategy focuses on station areas where trains run frequently and demand keeps building. The department wants more people living within walking distance of reliable rail so ridership grows without more highway traffic.

According to estimates, the Odenton buildout could generate $270 million in tax revenue for Maryland and Anne Arundel County over thirty years. The plan could add 117,000 MARC trips a year — not a trivial bump.

Maryland DOT Sees Odenton as a Long-Term TOD Anchor

The development team leans into TOD basics: mid-rise housing near the platforms, ground-floor storefronts, and streets that slow cars instead of inviting speeding. Frankly, it looks more like a town center than a park-and-ride.

Designers weave in walking and cycling links that tie nearby neighborhoods to the station. They treat these paths as essential because every safe shortcut to the train makes daily rail use more realistic.

Anne Arundel County and the Maryland Economic Development Corporation finance a related piece of the puzzle: a 1,100-space commuter garage with a $56 million price tag. They intend to break ground in 2026, if schedules hold.

By stacking cars in a garage instead of a flat lot, the partners free land for housing and shops. To be fair, drivers get parking — but the station area no longer revolves around it.

Local leaders now treat Odenton as a test case for growing around transit rather than behind windshield glass. The agency sees the site as an anchor on the Baltimore–Washington corridor, not a side project.

A successful Odenton district could draw more private capital to TOD projects along the Penn Line. As one planner put it, “we can see the cliff coming”; riders and tax revenue help the network step back.

Residents and businesses, meanwhile, watch the timetable and design work because both will shape who can afford to live near the station. The choices on building height, unit mix, and street design will matter for decades.

Source: www.progressiverailroading.com

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