NEWS
By Michael Dresser | September 11, 2009
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.
NEWS
February 25, 2009
Greedy borrowers, lenders not victims The remark by Dan Demeria, the owner of Potomac Heritage Homes, that any one of us could have been caught up in the mortgage crisis reflects the kind of ridiculous rationalization of greed and lack of simple financial common sense that we have seen from an alarming number of mortgage bankers and from greedy, spendthrift borrowers who now, absurdly, call themselves victims ("Short, sharp fall," Feb. 22). Where was their sense of personal responsibility?
NEWS
February 19, 2009
It didn't take long for the first wave of the $3.8 billion stimulus money bound for Maryland to get spent. Gov. Martin O'Malley yesterday announced a series of transportation improvements, from new buses to street repair, that should create, or at least retain, thousands of jobs as contractors gear up for a busier spring. As transportation projects go, the list is duller than a block of reinforced concrete. No major new projects, no ambitious expansions and certainly no "Bridges to Nowhere."
NEWS
By Gadi Dechter and Laura Smitherman | February 18, 2009
Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to unveil a plan today that would quickly spend more than $350 million in federal money on Maryland transportation projects, a day after President Barack Obama signed a huge stimulus bill that will send a flood of money to the states. In an announcement expected this morning, the Democratic governor will ask a state spending panel to approve the overhaul of a Laurel MARC station as a symbolic start to using the $3.8 billion windfall that is part of Maryland's estimated share of $787 billion in federal stimulus funds.
NEWS
By Michael Dresser | January 23, 2009
Maryland transportation projects, already scheduled to absorb $1.1 billion in cuts over the next six years, will lose an added $1 billion because of slumping revenues, state officials said yesterday. The Maryland Department of Transportation delivered the bad news in the final version of its 2009-2014 capital spending plan. The cuts are even steeper than those projected in a draft last fall. State officials now predict a $350 million-per-year drop in money going to the Transportation Trust Fund.
NEWS
By Laura Smitherman and Michael Dresser | December 3, 2008
Philadelphia - The nation's governors met with President-elect Barack Obama yesterday to help craft an economic stimulus plan that would include money for ready-to-go transportation projects and programs for the poor stretched thin by increased demand. Several dozen governors gathered here for the pre-inaugural summit as the country has officially fallen into recession, and as many state budgets have seen widening deficits brought on by sluggish tax receipts. The conversation also veered from funding for alternative energy and updating the country's power infrastructure to investing in a high-speed rail system and health care technology, participants said.
NEWS
November 30, 2008
A major criticism of a government-financed stimulus package that relies on spending huge sums to rebuild the nation's public infrastructure is the lag between the measure's passage and the resulting jobs. Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari has good reason to think that's not much of a problem this time around. That's because he's got a stack of more than $310 million worth of transportation-related projects ready to go. In some cases, there are jobs that might literally be created within hours of the bill's enactment - resurfacing contracts, for instance, that can be immediately expanded to restore miles of aging highway.
NEWS
By Mary Gail Hare | October 5, 2008
The thousands of new employees coming to military-related jobs in Harford County in the next three years will likely grapple with traffic congestion caused by inadequate roads, failing intersections and insufficient mass transit. Maryland's revenue shortfall has delayed several key projects that were designed to relieve commuter traffic to and from Aberdeen Proving Ground, which is expected to grow by about 10,000 jobs within the next three years. BRAC, the nationwide military base expansion set for a 2011 completion at APG, will bring those new employees to the county.
NEWS
By Kristi Horvath | September 12, 2008
If longer commutes, heavier congestion, increased pollution and greater dependence on oil seem inevitable, there's a good reason: These ills all stem from the misguided way our elected officials fund transportation in America. It's time to establish a 21st-century transportation policy to pay for 21st-century priorities. Every day brings more news about our struggling transportation system: wearisome traffic delays, soaring gasoline prices and shrinking funds for transportation projects.
NEWS
By Michael Dresser | July 31, 2008
Marylanders are driving fewer miles and using less gasoline. They're buying fewer SUVs and more small cars. The vehicles they are buying are more fuel-efficient and easier on the environment. Good news? In the long term, certainly, said Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari. But over the next few years, he said, the consumer reaction to high gas prices could bring severe cutbacks in the amount of money available for highway and mass transit projects. "What's good for the country in the long term is very painful for transportation programs in the short term - at both the federal and state level," Porcari said yesterday.