Loved ones of Branson Oduor hurried to the area around the National Aquarium as emergency personnel recovered a body from the Inner Harbor earlier this week.
Baltimore Police confirmed it was the body of the 27-year-old who went missing for more than a week after going out for dinner and drinks in Fells Point.
The tragedy resurfaced a question: Why doesn’t Baltimore’s waterfront have railings?
Campaigns for increased safety measures around the harbor have ebbed and flowed over the years, usually spurred by families who’ve lost loved ones. Baltimore’s waterfront is largely open along the Inner Harbor and into neighborhoods like Fells Point and Canton. It’s been that way for decades, even long before the Harborplace redevelopment in the 1980s.
‘Psychological barriers’
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor was a major seaport from the 18th century through World War II. As a working port, the harbor did not have guardrails on any of the piers, to allow access to docking vessels, said Ken Jones with the Baltimore Museum of Industry.
Retail and industrial businesses left downtown in the early 1960s, and the city and consultants reimagined the harbor as a public space with a waterfront promenade.
Harborplace eventually opened in 1980. The question of guardrails came up during the initial phases of its development, Judith Kreiner, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, told The Baltimore Sun in 1982.
Designers with Wallace, Roberts and Todd, a Philadelphia architectural firm the city hired for the project, studied similar areas in Europe that had lots of people and water, Kreiner said, comparing areas with guardrails and fencing and areas without.
Ultimately, officials decided against railings. Mayor William Donald Schaefer reportedly thought people might endanger themselves more by sitting on them.
Instead, the promenade was designed with “psychological barriers,” Kreiner said at the time — the granite borders to the brick walkways, the lighting poles and the placement of bollards where boats tie up are all meant to keep people away from the edge.
The lack of guardrails and waterfront safety was challenged in court in 1982, after a 12-year-old who used a wheelchair drowned in the harbor. The parents sued for $20 million, and the city settled out of court.
In 2018, 26-year-old Ryan Schroeder died after falling into the waters early one morning in February. Schroeder’s parents asked the city to increase the number of safety features around the waterfront, noting the lack of guardrails and that the nearest ladder or life ring was far from where he fell.
The city responded by committing to add 16 ladders and 35 emergency life rings stations with a $181,200 budget to install safety equipment.
As of 2026, the city has 35 life rings and 26 ladders around the Inner Harbor, spanning from the Rusty Scupper to Pier 6, said Kathy Dominick, a spokesperson for the Baltimore City Department of Transportation. The harbormaster regularly checks life rings and ladders during boating season, which runs from April through October, she said.
Zeke Cohen, who represented the district as a city councilman at the time, said he wanted the city to take “a hard look” at adding railings. Another council member, Mary Pat Clarke, also said she was open to conversations about protective rails.
Safety along Baltimore’s waterfront
Earlier this week, Mayor Brandon Scott offered condolences to Oduor’s family but said the city will wait until the investigation concludes before assessing whether additional steps are needed to increase safety along the waterfront.
The Waterfront Partnership, the organization responsible for promotion and upkeep of the waterfront, said it’s in communication with the mayor’s office and the Baltimore Police Department to understand the circumstances surrounding Oduor’s death.
“The loss of any life is tragic, and the safety of the millions of residents and visitors who come to Baltimore’s waterfront each year remains a top priority,” Rida Dhanani, a spokesperson for Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, said in a statement.
A petition began circulating online after Oduor’s body was found, calling for railings along Baltimore’s waterfront as well as other safety features, including more emergency ladders and visible warning signs in nightlife areas.
As of Friday, the petition had more than 2,260 signatures.
If the city did decide to add guardrails across the harbor, there would still be limitations, said Klaus Philipsen, an architect who has lived and worked in Baltimore for more than 30 years. Guardrails need to abide by building codes, he said, and fences along parts of the harbor would have to be removable to provide access to boats.
Railings around the promenade could obstruct views, and incidents could occur if people lean over them and lose their balance, Philipsen said.
Philipsen said Oduor’s death gave him deja vu, reminding him of renewed calls for safety improvements after Schroeder drowned in 2018.
Installing more ladders and life rings at the edge of the water so people can throw them in makes “perfect sense,” Philipsen said.
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