Maryland Highway Widening Plans Moving Forward Under New Governor

Observers hopeful that new Maryland Governor Wes Moore’s commitment to the defunct Red Line transit project in Baltimore was a sign of a less auto-centric vision for the future of transportation in Maryland might be disappointed.

Gov. Moore is moving forward with a plan to widen parts of the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270—a key piece of former Governor Larry Hogan’s transportation planning agenda for the state. Unlike Hogan’s approach, however, Moore’s vision for the project is scrapping the troubled public-private partnership.

“The Maryland Department of Transportation has applied for a $2.4 billion federal grant that officials said would help the state realize long sought improvements at one of the biggest traffic chokepoints in the Washington region by 2031,” reports Luz Lazo in a paywalled article for the Washington Post.  

Lazo adds: “Moore’s plan would rebuild the American Legion Bridge and add managed lanes — such as high-occupancy toll lanes — to parts of the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270, targeting crippling highway congestion at the Virginia state line and in the Maryland suburbs with a focus on transit and more community input, officials said.” Governor Moore claims the widening plan is consistent with his administration’s “Leave No One Behind” agenda. “The transportation network throughout Maryland and the National Capital Region must be able to get people where they need to go in a timely and reliable manner,” said Governor Moore in a press release. “Providing long-desired, equitable transportation solutions in the American Legion Bridge and I-270 corridors is critical to eliminating employment barriers, linking more people to high-demand jobs and stimulating local economies."

The I-495/I-270 Managed Lanes Project has been in the works since 2017, finally gaining federal approval in August 2022 after moving forward in fits and starts over the years and facing local opposition and legal peril.