Downtown Elkton Master Plan
City of Elkton
With the goal of reintroducing a rail stop in Elkton, WILMAPCO and the Town of Elkton engaged Design Collective to lead the effort to establish a TOD Plan for the historic town. Currently, the only gap in public rail service in the Northeast Corridor (NEC), the nation’s busiest passenger rail corridor, is a 20-mile stretch between Perryville, MD and Newark, DE. In order to fill this gap and make Elkton transit-ready, planning focused on encouraging mixed-use development near the station including residential, retail, office, and shared parking.
As the county seat, several institutions and government offices call Elkton home including Union Hospital, Cecil College, and the County Board of Education. For these institutions and offices as well as local businesses in the downtown, re-establishing rail service is seen as vital to economic growth and professional recruitment. With the goal of balancing new growth and mobility with the sustainment and promotion of Main Street businesses, creating a link from "Train to Main" was essential. Plan recommendations include, among other items:
- Mixed-use development with ground floor retail at the station (to be implemented by private developers/land owners);
- Shared parking structures (to be either publicly financed or through a PPP);
- Streetscape improvements to establish a pedestrian and cycle friendly environment;
- Infill restaurants, galleries, and other evening retail uses along the route to draw people to Main Street, a short walk from the station.
The planning efforts involved educating the community through participatory meetings and workshops regarding Smart Growth and TOD principles and benefits; balancing traffic, transit, parking, and intermodal functional needs with mixed-use, development possibilities; addressing pedestrian, bus, kiss ’n ride, and vehicular circulation and safety needs and conflicts; addressing varied property owner considerations; preparing a visionary, flexible, and market-driven plan with realistically supportable land use recommendations; and defining implementation strategies, policies, and priorities.
