Erin Henson, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Transportation, said the state is pleased to receive recognition for its efforts. She said Gov. Martin O'Malley wanted the state to focus on smaller projects to get work under way quickly in all parts of Maryland. Some 19 projects worth $43 million are under way and the state has given contractors the green light to begin work on another 62 jobs worth $155 million, Henson said.
"Distributing it to smaller projects allowed the benefit of stimulus dollars to be felt by workers and families in every region of the state," she said.
Schmidt-Perkins said the only "quibble" was that the state could have spent more of its discretionary money on mass transit. But Henson noted that Maryland is spending $135 million on transit projects from a separate pool of stimulus money.
