National Heritage Area - Charles Street Byway Management Plan

Charles Street:

Charles Street - Baltimore’s premier street – takes you on a 10-mile journey through some of the city’s most fashionable cultural, residential and commercial areas. It is the address for some of its finest stores, restaurants, offices, institutions, and homes.

Like an outdoor museum, Charles Street tells an authentic Baltimore story of urban innovation in City Planning, architecture, education, and philanthropy. Come experience authentic Baltimore and stop to shop, dine, sightsee, and seek out world-class entertainment. At the same time, take note of several institutions whose influence extends beyond Baltimore’s borders to the nation and the globe.

To visit Charles Street, please download the Maryland Byways Charles Street Map and Guide.

Byway Management Plan:

This Byway Management Plan describes the state of the Charles Street Byway corridor today - how to get there and navigate along its path, the significance of its historic and cultural resources, the plans and programs already in place to preserve and enhance the corridor over time, and the needs to extend those existing programs to the entire length of Charles Street to ensure that it remains Baltimore’s premier street.

Planning for the Charles Street Byway was conducted in partnership by the Baltimore City Department of Planning and Baltimore County Office of Planning with the support of an active community-based Advisory Committee which guided the completion of a Corridor Management Plan for Charles Street, a requirement for designation as a National Scenic Byway. Charles Street is fortunate to have many organizations that provide leadership, direction, and resources for implementing projects along the Byway. The report was prepared by Johnson, Mirmiran, & Thompson, and Lardner/Klein Landscape Architects, PC. The Maryland Scenic Byways Program is funded in part by the Federal Highway Administration.

For more information please contact:
Katie Callahan Durcan
Charles Street Byways Manager for the Baltimore Heritage Area
Office of the Mayor
Phone: 443-984-3089
Email:

Get more information on other Maryland Scenic Byways.

As part of the Byway Management Planning process, consultants studied Charles Street and proposed solutions to problematic travel areas along the Byway. Five critical parts of the Charles Street Byway were selected for more detailed investigation and the development of proposed solutions including where Charles Street and St. Paul Street intersect. The recommendation was to change one block of Charlcote Road into a four-lane, two-way Street with one parking lane, one southbound lane, and two northbound lanes. Although the case study appears in the plan, neither the City nor its Department of Transportation has plans to advance the Charlcote Road proposal, and no design or implementation funding has been or will be committed to this proposal.