Despite an eye-popping figure topping the Maryland Department of Transportation’s latest spending plan, officials are warning that rising costs will delay some construction projects in the coming years.

On Tuesday, MDOT released a draft version of the Consolidated Transportation Program, which charts a vision for spending $21.9 billion over six years on the state’s roads, bridges, public transportation and more.

The massive document, which is updated each year and wrapped into the governor’s upcoming proposed budget, details how the Maryland Transit Administration, the State Highway Administration and other arms of MDOT spend state and federal funds for capital construction and planning. It does not include the department’s operating budget until it’s finalized in the spring.

Officials say this year’s plan keeps all major ongoing projects around the state moving, including rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge, finalizing the Purple Line light rail in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, and upgrading Interstates 695 and 81.

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However, a squeeze on the world’s oil supply resulting from the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran is compounding other inflationary pressures that have troubled the industry for years, driving up project costs even further.

State officials said that some petroleum-based products the department relies on, like asphalt and diesel fuel, have risen in price by as much as 38% over the past six months.

As a result, 128 smaller projects will face delays, freeing up about $520 million to cover the increases on a slew of ongoing projects that the department considers essential, according to state officials.

In a roundtable interview Monday — before the draft document was made publicly available — Maryland Transportation Secretary Kathryn Thomson called the proposal a “balanced plan” focused on three core pillars: safety, maintaining existing equipment and systems, and investing in infrastructure that can “springboard” economic development, such as improvements at the Port of Baltimore.

But Thomson also said that Maryland is in the midst of a “very constrained financial environment” and that the Transportation Trust Fund isn’t the only state funding source facing pressure.

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The department has staved off cuts in recent years after Annapolis lawmakers made up the difference with new taxes and fees. Thomson said her and Gov. Wes Moore’s offices are in discussion with lawmakers about ways to shore up transportation funding in the future.

What’s inside

According to the proposed budget, non-tolled roads and bridges get nearly half of the state’s transportation capital funds. The plan calls for $1.38 billion to rehabilitate bridges, $1.5 billion to resurface roadways, $268 million for stormwater management projects and $247 million for sidewalks. It also includes:

  • $183 million for widening a section of Interstate 97 in Anne Arundel County, with construction starting next year;
  • $158 million for the ongoing widening of Interstate 81 in Washington County;
  • $250 million for a new interchange along the Interstate 495 Capital Beltway at the Greenbelt Metro stop in anticipation of the future FBI headquarters;
  • $2 billion for Highway User Revenues, which are funds passed along to Baltimore City and the state’s 23 counties to rehabilitate local roadways that SHA doesn’t handle in-house.

Among the state’s transit project funding:

  • $95.2 million for planning and engineering of Baltimore’s east-west Red Line transit project, but still no construction funds;
  • $948 million to begin overhauling and modernizing the existing north-south Light Rail, which connects northern Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County through Baltimore City;
  • $852 million to finish construction on the 14-mile Purple Line light rail in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties by the end of next year. However, then the state begins making $847 million of “availability payments” to the private operator of the rail line to help with financing and upkeep, meaning that the Purple Line accounts for nearly 30% of the MTA’s total allotment;
  • $384 million for the rehabilitation of aging MARC commuter train vehicles, as well as $260 million for track and station improvements;
  • $22.9 million for the design and acquisition of a new bus depot in Baltimore.

What comes next?

As they do every year, MDOT Secretary Thomson and other department officials will now meet with local officials and the public in each Maryland jurisdiction to review projects and solicit feedback. Sometimes, that feedback can help move money around and produce a tweaked final version of the budget in the spring.

The full schedule is available online here.