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A top official with the Maryland Department of Transportation warned local leaders in the D.C. region on Monday that a recent vote against a controversial highway-widening project puts other road and transit improvements in jeopardy.
In a letter to the head of the National Capital Region鈥檚 Transportation Planning Board, Deputy Secretary R. Earl Lewis Jr. said the panel鈥檚聽聽to remove the I-495/I-270 project from a federally-required environmental review blows a hole in the state鈥檚 long-range planning.
Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.鈥檚 plan to widen portions of the two highways and rebuild the American Legion Bridge through a 鈥減ublic-private partnership鈥� attracted $6 billion in private funding, Lewis told TPB chairman Charles Allen.
Hogan (R) and other top transportation officials have said the 鈥淧3鈥� approach is beneficial for Maryland because private firms will not only finance and construct new 鈥渆xpress toll lanes鈥� on the two highways and rebuild the bridge at 鈥渘o net cost to the state,鈥� the companies will also be responsible for maintenance of both the 鈥渕anaged lanes鈥� and the existing lanes, which will remain toll-free.
鈥淭PB鈥檚 action to exclude the I 495/270 HOT Lanes projects from the [Long-Range Transportation Plan] essentially removes the assumed $6 billion in private sector revenues, which were slated to fund the replacement of the American Legion Memorial Bridge鈥�,鈥� Lewis wrote.
鈥淭his infusion of private sector capital enabled the State to leverage the Transportation Trust Fund balance to support other critical transit and highway projects,鈥� he added.
Lewis said that other National Capital Region projects that are currently 鈥渕odeled for construction will almost certainly need to be downgraded to studies or removed entirely to offset the loss of revenue for system preservation costs鈥� for the bridge and the two highways.
He did not identify the projects at risk of being 鈥渄owngraded,鈥� nor did he contend that such actions were inevitable.
Allen (D), a member of the D.C. Council, said he would consult with TPB staff to determine whether Lewis鈥檚 assertions hold water.
Montgomery County Executive Marc B. Elrich (D) expressed skepticism.
鈥淚 feel like [Hogan is] playing a game of chicken,鈥� Elrich told 海角精品黑料. 鈥淭his is not really helpful.鈥�
Frederick County Council member Kai Hagen (D) also rejected MDOT鈥檚 claim, calling it a 鈥渟hort-term, self-serving way to try to defend a point of view that has no basis in fact.鈥�
Hagen, a member of the TPB who voted in favor of the motion to drop the Beltway/I-270 project, said the state should pursue federal funding for the new bridge. He also urged MDOT to consider 鈥渁 more economically responsible, less risky, more environmentally responsible鈥� option for easing traffic on I-270 鈥� such as building two reversible lanes rather than four lanes.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got the biggest [federal] infrastructure proposals ever on the table,鈥� Hagen said. 鈥�(MDOT) is just scare-mongering.鈥�
Project backers fill board vacancies
The June 16 motion to remove the I-495/I-270 project from the federal Air Quality Conformity Analysis was made by a top Montgomery transportation official on Elrich鈥檚 behalf. The amendment was adopted on vote of 9.2 to 5.7, under the Transportation Planning Board鈥檚 鈥渨eighted鈥� voting system.
At the time of the vote, seats set aside for the Maryland Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates were vacant, but one of those vacancies has been filled on Monday,聽Maryland Matters聽has learned.
Senate Majority Leader Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery), a vocal supporter of the governor鈥檚 project, has been chosen by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) to join the panel, effective immediately.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 been a mistake for us not to have somebody on that board to start with,鈥� said King. 鈥淚 just need to be the Senate representative. That鈥檚 all there is to it.鈥�
Top officials in Annapolis and Richmond, and within the Maryland and Virginia transportation departments, have been scrambling in the wake of last week鈥檚 board action to engineer a re-vote 鈥� and the appointment of King is part of that effort, according to multiple sources.
Backers of the highway widening 鈥� in government and in the business sector 鈥� hope to add and flip enough votes to swing the outcome, perhaps as early as next month.
Lewis, the MDOT deputy secretary, told the board in his letter that 鈥淢DOT will submit a revised package of inputs and financial information for TPB鈥檚 consideration at its July 21 Board meeting.鈥�
鈥淭he TPB will have to review and take action to approve the revised set of conformity inputs to be used in the regional air quality conformity analysis for the plan update,鈥� he instructed.
The plan to engineer a re-vote is predicated on a supporter of the Elrich amendment moving for reconsideration, according to the board鈥檚 rules. One source said that two members of the panel were prepared to do so, but the person refused to identify them.
Allen cast doubt on the re-vote strategy, saying that staff has been instructed that it must submit its list of projects to the U.S. Department of Transportation by the end of June to avoid 鈥減utting other federal dollars at risk.鈥�
鈥淭he TPB voted 鈥� and voted by a significant margin 鈥� to not include this project,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淵ou had pretty close to a conformity of your elected officials across Maryland that all didn鈥檛 support this and didn鈥檛 want this to move forward.鈥�
鈥淧art of what I鈥檝e got to do is make sure we keep TPB鈥檚 work on track and on progress,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got communication from U.S. DOT telling us this needs to move forward. You can鈥檛 any do extensions of time.鈥�
Edgar Gonzalez, the head of the Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance, called King 鈥渁n outstanding selection鈥� to serve on the TPB. 鈥淪he is a voice to balance the views of the existing representative from the House of Delegates. I am very happy that she was appointed.鈥�
But Rockville Mayor Bridge Donnell Newton, a project opponent, called the rush to fill TPB vacancies 鈥渦nfortunate鈥� and 鈥渞eally sad.鈥�
鈥淭his plan was supposed to be transformational. That鈥檚 their word,鈥� she said. 鈥淧aving highway and giving highway to a foreign entity is hardly transformational.鈥�
