Board postpones vote on Hogan’s $9B highway project

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A proposal to widen portions of Interstate 270 and the Capital Beltway is being withdrawn from Wednesday’s Board of Public Works agenda.

The three-member board was to consider designating the proposal a public private partnership, an important step to seeking bids from consortiums who might partner with the state to build toll lanes on the two congested highways. The projects announced by Gov. Larry Hogan are considered to be the biggest public private partnerships in the nation.

“On Thursday, after consultation with the comptroller’s office, we decided to postpone consideration of this item. Marylanders continue to sit in soul-crushing traffic, including an average of seven hours of congestion on I-270 and 10 hours of congestion on I-495,” Michael Ricci, a spokesman for Gov. Larry Hogan, said in a statement. “Every single day that goes by without action destroys quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Marylanders and their families.”

The board was expected to consider designating the highway-widening, which would include using toll lanes, as a public private partnership. Hogan announced the widening in in September 2017 as part of larger $9-$11 billion proposal to alleviate traffic congestion. That larger proposal could one day include the additions of toll lanes along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

The combined costs of the projects are considered to be the largest public-private partnership proposal in the country. By comparison, The 16.2 mile Purple Line light-rail line connecting Bethesda to New Carrollton is expected to cost $2.4 billion.

Board approval of the request for the two highways would allow the Maryland Department of Transportation to solicit for developers for each phase of the project.

“We’re thrilled to learn that Governor Hogan has yielded to public pressure and delayed the Lexus Lane vote scheduled for Wednesday,” said Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition chair Ben Ross this morning. “This will give us all time to learn what bad news is hidden in the fine print of the term sheet that the governor was trying to ram through the Board of Public Works.”

Treasurer Nancy Kopp is expected to be out of the country next week and unavailable to vote on the project, although there is precedent for designating a proxy to represent her on the panel.

Kopp was not available for comment, a spokeswoman said.

The vote delay, first reported by Maryland Matters, is considered temporary. The request could come back before the board as soon as June, as Hogan is expected to be traveling out of state during the May 22 meeting.

Forty state legislators had sent a letter to the Board of Public Works urging the vote be delayed.

Some lawmakers expressed concerns about the board approving a public private partnership designation while Kopp is traveling, and they also have concerns about environmental impacts. A study of potential impacts is underway.

“The (environmental impact study) will provide information about the cost, time, land need, environmental mitigation, and other important factors, so that you can understand what it is you’re being asked to approve,” the legislators wrote in their May 3 letter.

Legislators attempted to delay the projects with a bill that would have required the completion of environmental impact studies before moving forward. The legislation passed the House of Delegates but died in the Senate.

John Townsend, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said motorists need relief from traffic congestion in the region but the delay by the board was a good idea.

“The optics weren’t good,” Townsend said, speaking of Kopp being out of town. “There should be no rush to judgment, but we don’t need delays.”

The organization that represents motorists supports the proposed expansion. Townsend said he worries the effort to delay the vote is part of a pattern meant to prioritize public transportation above all other transportation needs.

“We’re the most enlightened people in the world except when it comes to transportation,” said Townsend. “Transit should be a priority but it is only one leg of the stool.”

In December, the board approved a $90 million, five-year contract with the Maryland Traffic Relief Partners to oversee the toll lane proposals. The consortium that received the contract is led by Reynolds, Smith and Hills, Inc. and includes Louis Berger US Inc. and Whitman, Requardt and Associates, LLP.

The vote in December was the second time the board was asked to consider the project. An earlier bid was withdrawn after concerns surfaced about a potential conflict of interest involving Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn and the then-winning bidder, a group led by Kansas City, Missouri-based HNTB. Rahn was employed by the company before joining the Hogan administration in 2015.