There’s life anew in “The Ditch,” “The Highway to Nowhere” or whatever else you like to call the 1.39-mile, six-lane freeway that runs through part of West Baltimore, thanks to Blue Water Baltimore and partner organizations and state agencies.
Over the last two years, volunteers and staff planted 477 trees in a seven-acre along the median between Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Fulton Avenue as part of a “greening” initiative. Trees can help absorb water, reducing stormwater runoff and pollution—a big boon to the ailing harbor—and also help to add green space, making an area simply look nicer.
Carl Simon, director of programs for Blue Water Baltimore, said in an email that the Baltimore Tree Trust helped pay for more than 200 of the trees planted this season, during the project’s final phase. The Maryland Port Administration was the primary funder of the $150,000 effort, a cost that also includes maintaining the newly green lot for three years. The state’s Department of Natural Resources and Baltimore Gas and Electric also helped with funding.
The site is relatively tough to access—it sits in an expanse
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