Road, Transit Projects Headed for a Detour

Budget Woes Might Derail Top Priorities in S.Md.

State transportation officials delivered a bleak forecast last week about funding for Southern Maryland transit projects at a time of tight budgets and a slumping economy.

In a meeting Wednesday with Charles County commissioners and the county's legislative delegation in Annapolis, representatives of the Maryland Department of Transportation and the State Highway Administration said money for road and mass transit projects will be extremely limited for the foreseeable future.

For Southern Maryland, that will probably mean delays for some of the region's top priorities, including upgrades to the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge and the expansion of transit between Waldorf and the Branch Avenue Metro station in Prince George's County.

"We are being forced to remove most new projects from the budget" for the current fiscal year, which ends in June, said Beverley K. Swaim-Staley, the state deputy secretary of transportation.

Statewide, officials have said, $1.1 billion worth of planned transportation projects will be deferred over the next six years because of budget cuts.

The good news, said Swaim-Staley and State Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen, is that the state is moving ahead with construction of a high-speed EZ Pass toll booth on the Nice Bridge. The state will also proceed with deck patching and steel work on the bridge, which was deemed necessary after the fatal bridge collapse last year in Minneapolis and a fatal accident this year on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

"Preservation projects will continue to be funded, and we will redistribute funds if you have projects that are necessary now," Pedersen said.

However, a larger upgrade for the Nice Bridge remains a distant goal despite increasing traffic and safety concerns. The bridge, which extends Route 301 across the Potomac River between Charles County and King George County in Virginia, is expected to carry more than 8 million cars a year by 2025 because of rapid population growth on both sides of the river.

In December, Maryland transportation officials said they were focusing on six possibilities for expanding the bridge, which has no divider between its two lanes of traffic. Most options involve building a new span, which would cut through a public park or a Navy facility on the Virginia side.

"The Nice Bridge improvement project will hold its fourth focus group in the spring, but there is no funding beyond the study phase," said Glen Smith, project manager for the proposed upgrade.

In listing the region's priorities for transportation funding, Charles commissioners placed heavy emphasis on expanding or bypassing Route 301 through the county's commercial core in Waldorf. As shopping centers and office parks proliferate, congestion has become a major issue for commuters and shoppers in the Waldorf area.

A project to upgrade or bypass Route 301 has been funded through 2010 in the study phase, but no engineering or construction funds have been secured. At Wednesday's meeting, local and state officials agreed on the importance of finding a solution to the road's traffic problems but said they were unsure when such a solution might be fiscally possible.

Public transportation along Route 301, the region's primary north-south corridor, is another priority for local leaders, who say they hope one day to see construction of a high-speed light rail system between Charles and the nearest Metro station, at Branch Avenue. More realistic options for the next several years involve expanding the county's bus system, state officials said.

The commissioners at last week's meeting said they were disappointed to hear that the county's VanGo system, which runs routes throughout the county and provides door-to-door service for senior citizens and disabled people, will probably not get a funding increase next year.

"This system serves people who have no other options and add to the quality of life in the county," said Commissioner Gary V. Hodge (D-St. Charles).

Swaim-Staley said she understood Hodge's concern but remained firm about the state's financial situation.

"We'll take a lot of criticism, but unfortunately we may have no choice," she said.