A federal Government Accountability Office report says Maryland may need an additional $315 million to $470 million to complete transportation projects near three military facilities that will gain thousands of jobs under the Pentagon's base realignment program.
The newly released study, which reports to Congress on the impact of the Base Realignment and Closure process on 18 communities nationwide, noted that Maryland has already allocated almost $95 million for intersection improvements near Aberdeen Proving Ground, Fort Meade and the Bethesda National Naval Center.
The GAO said the shortfalls in funding to complete work that is needed reflects the broader decline in Maryland's transportation revenues that prompted the state to defer more than $2.3 billion in transportation projects - an amount that was partially offset by $610 million in federal stimulus money for transportation.
But Maryland could get an additional boost for its BRAC efforts from competitive grants it has applied for out of federal stimulus funds. On Thursday, Gov. Martin O'Malley announced that the state would apply for $58 million for intersection improvements at the three facilities, as well as $25 million for a bus maintenance facility in Savage that is considered vital to improving local transit service to Fort Meade and the National Security Agency.
The governor also said the state would apply for $45 million for track improvements and signal upgrades to the MARC Camden and Brunswick lines, which are expected to play an important role in getting employees to Fort Meade and to a lesser extent Bethesda.
Andrew J. Scott, special assistant to the transportation secretary for BRAC-related matters, said the GAO's figures on the funding gap are generally accurate but don't take into account the state's current efforts to reduce the costs of the intersection improvements.
"We're still refining those designs," he said.
The report said the federal government had provided only limited aid for transportation to communities affected by BRAC. It noted that there is no dedicated source of transportation funds for BRAC-related projects, adding that they must compete with other projects for federal highway and transit aid.
The report is notably free of value judgments and for the most part simply reports to Congress the facts as the GAO sees them about the military's streamlining effort.
