With Maryland lawmakers heading back to Annapolis in January, state transportation officials are touring the state to talk with county and local lawmakers about the fiscal realities that loom over their transportation plans. Once again this year, the message is clear that even Santa Claus won’t come through with much of what they’re looking for.
“We continue to face significant budgetary challenges because of the state’s relatively slow economic growth, the rising cost of labor and materials, and revenues coming in lower than projections,” said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld.
It was a blunt but realistic warning, as members of the Prince George’s County Council, as well as other elected leaders, made their pitch about their priorities and what they want the state to focus on. Some of those projects have been talked about for decades. Others are new ideas that the county hopes the state will focus on as development adds more cars and trucks to two-lane highways, adding to the gridlock in the region.
One project the state said was going to see a funding cut involves a new and improved Beltway Interchange at Medical Center Drive. A year ago, state leaders heard complaints about a design that wasn’t accessible enough to pedestrians and bicyclists, an issue that was addressed in the most recent design submitted.
“We have a growing community that is demanding more walkable and bikeable communities,” said council member Wala Blegay, who represents that area of the county.
In response, state highway administrator Will Pines said the changes came after consultations with the Washington Commanders, as the state tried to find the right balance between addressing the multimodal desires of residents who live near there, as well as a football team trying to funnel as much stadium traffic out of the parking lots as fast as possible.
However, long term, there may not be a football team there, but leaders from the county executive’s office stressed the importance of getting that interchange back on schedule again.
“That’s the cornerstone for one of the county executive’s development initiatives that incorporates the Blue Line corridor,” said Floyd Holt, a deputy chief administrative officer with the county. “So I strongly ask you to look closely at allowing us to complete the planning, design and engineering within the six-year program of that.”
State leaders continually showed willingness to meet and discuss projects, but getting concrete promises was a different story.
“That does not mean that we don’t care about Medical Center Drive,” said Pines after the hearing. “We absolutely know that it’s a hugely important project for the county, to move important economic development in the region forward with that. We’re trying to move on any federal dollars that are available for us to be able to actually have those projects continue.”
Projects like the Medical Center Drive interchange remain priorities, he said, but it’s also one of many projects that will be funded just enough to keep them feasible, even if they don’t get completed.
“Once we get to that logical stopping point, we’ll go ‘pencils down,’” said Pines. “If funding becomes available, then we would pick the pencils back up and proceed forward.”
Those representing the county made it clear that it’s important to get those pencils back up soon.
“(The) Blue Line corridor and Medical Center Drive are at the core of the county’s development strategy,” said Department of Public Works and Transportation director Mike Johnson. “At a minimum, we ask that you restore design and engineering funding” in future budgets.
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