Buildings have been demolished, the design for a new train station has been released — Amtrak’s future Frederick Douglass Tunnel project is already making West Baltimore look different. But residents are urging city leaders to do what they can to pump the brakes on it until a civil rights investigation plays out.

The federally subsidized passenger rail company has won billions in federal grant dollars to replace the current Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, which is more than 150 years old. The tunnel, which runs underneath Bolton Hill and other neighborhoods, is the source of the worst bottlenecks in passenger rail service between Washington, D.C., and New York, according to an Amtrak official. Replacing it is key to big plans to double ridership throughout the Northeast Corridor by 2040.

Tuesday morning, the Baltimore City Council heard testimony on six bills concerning the sale of, or grant of access to, city-owned land for the project. Amtrak needs subsurface property rights to dig the future tunnel tubes underneath more than 500 parcels of land, some of which are public right of way containing roadways or city-owned properties. Amtrak began making financial offers to private property owners for such rights earlier this year.

“Why would the City Council vote in support of bills that would make this city liable for future civil rights litigation?” asked Keondra Prier, president of the Reservoir Hill Association, before the council.

Amtrak’s work on the tunnel is progressing despite a civil rights complaint filed by West Baltimore residents like Prier. The complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation earlier this year, alleges the project would have a disparate impact on majority-Black neighborhoods, and that less discriminatory routes were available. The federal government is currently investigating.

Granting Amtrak these subsurface rights before the Federal Railroad Administration makes a determination on the civil rights complaint would continue a precedent of allowing infrastructure projects to harm Black Baltimoreans, Prier testified. But could a body of local lawmakers really slow down a massive, federally backed railroad with a track record of using eminent domain?

“The statute is so clear that if the rights are owned by the city, then Amtrak does not have the authority from Congress to go in and take them,” said James Kelly Jr., director of Notre Dame University’s Community Development Clinic and a clinical law professor. Congress has granted Amtrak extensive rights to seize property, including in high-profile cases such as that over Washington’s Union Station, but public land is another question, said Kelly, a former law professor at the University of Baltimore.

And it’s an open question at that, Kelly said, because the state of Maryland has other options available to wrest control of the land away from the city.

The six bills in question were not up for a vote on Tuesday. When the council does vote on them at a future meeting, residents will have another opportunity to testify, said Councilman Eric Costello, chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

All representatives from the city agencies present reported favorable or non-opposition stances toward the bills, except for a representative from the Office of Equity and Civil Rights, citing a need for the federal civil rights complaint to play out before taking a stance.

“What’s the shortest distance between two points?” Rolando Maxwell asked council members as he stepped up to a podium to testify in opposition to the project. Costello didn’t seem amused by the possibly rhetorical question.

“We’re not going to engage in a back-and-forth, but I think the answer is a straight line,” Costello said with a shrug.

“So explain to me why Amtrak decided to give us a big curve in this design,” Maxwell said.

It wasn’t Amtrak, but rather the Federal Railroad Administration in partnership with the state, that finalized the proposed route of the tunnel in 2017, ruling out other alternatives that included building a new tunnel essentially right next to the old one. That option was eliminated years earlier because, among other reasons, engineers anticipated high potential impacts to historic properties, community disruption during construction and “the highest number of buildings with potential noise impacts at 210.”

That same report seems to contradict that claim, however, saying that more than 1,200 buildings face moderate or severe noise impacts along the chosen route. Environmental documents show the worst of those impacts would be in Midtown-Edmondson and Sandtown-Winchester, majority Black neighborhoods where neighbors have already reported disruptions associated with demolition and construction.

In an email, a Federal Railroad Administration spokesperson confirmed these numbers but pointed to an updated environmental document from 2016. It shows lower noise impact figures for the selected route — a reduction in the number of buildings that may face severe impacts from 210 to 141, and in those that may experience moderate impacts from 1,080 to 297.

The Federal Transit Administration defines moderate noise impact thresholds as “areas where the change in noise is noticeable but may not be sufficient to cause a strong, adverse community reaction,” the spokesperson wrote, adding that mitigation efforts are suggested but not required for such potential impacts.

“Selling our city land rights prematurely without further research, transparency and accountability, assuming you have the same lack of information as our constituents, would, I believe, be shortsighted with unintended and possible adverse consequences to still-fragile communities,” said Maria Salome of Reservoir Hill in her testimony. Repeated questions about the project’s potential impacts on their homes, she said, have been met with “talk of eminent domain, condemnation and silence.”

The project has been a lightning rod in Reservoir Hill, in part because it’s where Amtrak plans to build one of three emergency ventilation facilities across the street from an elementary school. Amtrak’s air quality assurances have done little to quell residents’ fears, who cite a local scientist’s claims that the project will contribute to increased particulate matter in the area. And Amtrak’s repeated claim that there is virtually no chance of structural damage to their homes has mostly fallen on deaf ears.

The outcry has, in part, led Amtrak to hold regular public meetings with project updates. Despite the concerns voiced by residents, the tone at the meetings suggests Amtrak believes the plan will move forward.

Wednesday night, dozens of Amtrak officials and project builders outnumbered residents at Carver Vocational Technical High School. They reviewed the subsurface real estate process, gave construction updates and showed plans for the future redesign of the Edmondson Avenue bridge, which needs to be rebuilt as part of the program.

They also had devices on display that Amtrak is offering to place on residents’ homes during construction to monitor potential vibration and check whether a home has shifted. They are offering free preconstruction surveys, as well, to protect both property owners and Amtrak with documentation in the event of damage.

Multiple project officials strongly recommended both the preconstruction surveys and the construction monitoring devices.

“To the members of the public, as your representative on this council, I hear you,” said City Councilman James Torrence, who represents the 7th District, at Tuesday’s hearing. He began a heartfelt, six-minute speech by saying that he had reservations about the project, and that he can recognize “the ghost of Jim Crow’s past” in the history of how big infrastructure projects have disproportionately harmed communities of color.

Earlier, Torrence asked Amtrak team members if they were open to coming back to the table regarding the design and location of the intermediate ventilation facility. They responded that they were.

Torrence told Amtrak’s officials, “You’ve heard the voices,” but added that more answers were still needed. He brought up both West Baltimore’s storied history and the system of ground rent that may prevent some residents from even benefitting from the sale of subsurface property rights for the tunnel.

His remarks were met with applause.