Transportation Projects

Not long after the Maryland General Assembly last adjourned back in mid-April, gasoline prices were approaching $4 a gallon. Currently, a price-conscious shopper can purchase a gallon of regular unleaded in the Baltimore area for as little as $3.50. That's a 50-cent swing in prices, essentially a 12.5 percent discount from just one month ago. So, Mr. and Mrs. Average Maryland Consumer, has this drop in prices had a huge impact on your life? Has it revived the economy? Put the unemployed back to work?

Kick the can down the road. Kick the can down the road. The game is getting old in Maryland, and The Sun is absolutely right to point out that, for the second time in a matter of weeks, the Maryland General Assembly is wrapping up its business without yet tackling the absolutely critical issue of fixing our state transportation funding crisis ("Unfinished business," May 16). Maryland's transportation trust fund has been severely depleted in recent years, with multiple raids on the fund to help offset operating budget deficits.

State Sen. Jim Rosapepe should be applauded for his statement on transportation funding ("Put transportation in voters' hands," April 11). Identifying funding streams for transportation investments is a national political debate. Many understand the extraordinary need to invest in rebuilding our transportation infrastructure, but no one has taken the initiative to Senator Rosapepe's level. It will take a great amount of political courage to achieve his vision. Three thoughts came to mind in response to his column.

Not long after the Maryland General Assembly last adjourned back in mid-April, gasoline prices were approaching $4 a gallon. Currently, a price-conscious shopper can purchase a gallon of regular unleaded in the Baltimore area for as little as $3.50. That's a 50-cent swing in prices, essentially a 12.5 percent discount from just one month ago. So, Mr. and Mrs. Average Maryland Consumer, has this drop in prices had a huge impact on your life? Has it revived the economy? Put the unemployed back to work?

Former Gov. Parris N. Glendening's proposal to let voters decide whether to build transportation projects ignores the long history of disconnect between the state's plans and outcomes, which cannot be resolved by a simple yes or no by voters ("Voters will support transportation projects," April 22). This goes back at least as far as the 1960s, when voters rejected a second parallel span for the Bay Bridge - and the state built it anyway. In the 1990s, even Gov. William Donald Schaefer got conned by his own Department of Transportation's promises regarding light rail.

Facing a massive shortfall in funding and looming gridlock, Gov. Martin O'Malley voiced strong support Friday for more federal dollars toward Base Realignment and Closure transportation projects in the state. At a news conference announcing that a highway project near Aberdeen Proving Ground was moving toward construction, O'Malley was confident that the shortfall in funding would be met. He emphasized that the state would work closely with Congress to make it happen. "We plan to meet the shortfall as we have every challenge in the history of our nation - by doing it together," O'Malley said.

Annapolis-area residents can learn more about local transportation projects at a presentation and panel discussion Thursday morning at City Hall. The event, "Managing the Impact: Annapolis Transportation Projects," will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in the Annapolis city council chambers. It is being put on by the Annapolis Regional Transportation Management Association, a nonprofit group that advocates improving transportation. Representatives of the Maryland State Highway Administration will discuss plans to replace the Weems Creek bridge and rehabilitate the College Creek bridge, starting early next year.

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.

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.

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.

Former Gov. Parris N. Glendening's proposal to let voters decide whether to build transportation projects ignores the long history of disconnect between the state's plans and outcomes, which cannot be resolved by a simple yes or no by voters ("Voters will support transportation projects," April 22). This goes back at least as far as the 1960s, when voters rejected a second parallel span for the Bay Bridge - and the state built it anyway. In the 1990s, even Gov. William Donald Schaefer got conned by his own Department of Transportation's promises regarding light rail.

State Sen. Jim Rosapepe should be applauded for his statement on transportation funding ("Put transportation in voters' hands," April 11). Identifying funding streams for transportation investments is a national political debate. Many understand the extraordinary need to invest in rebuilding our transportation infrastructure, but no one has taken the initiative to Senator Rosapepe's level. It will take a great amount of political courage to achieve his vision. Three thoughts came to mind in response to his column.

Gov. Martin O'Malley says he still hopes to convince the legislature to raise money for highway and transit projects — possibly by adding another penny to Maryland's six-percent sales tax and dedicating the extra revenue to transportation. In an interview with The Baltimore Sun, O'Malley conceded that his initial proposal to apply the sales tax to gasoline is dead in the General Assembly. But he said an alternative would be a delayed implementation of that proposal, with the sales tax not being applied until gas prices fell to a certain level.

Maryland's top transportation priorities should include widening the Baltimore Beltway, making Route 295 six lanes near BWI Marshall Airport and building the city's Red Line light rail, a national transportation group said Wednesday. The recommendations were part of a 40-item wish list compiled by TRIP, a nonprofit research organization sponsored by the construction industry, insurance companies and unions. "These are game-changing projects," said Frank Moretti, TRIP's director of policy and research.

Gov. Martin O'Malley delivered a typically polished performance Wednesday as he appeared before three General Assembly committees to testify for his plan -- but he appeared to be putting on a show to an audience that had already tuned out. The governor laid out his case for his proposal to apply the state's 6 percent sales tax to gasoline -- arguing that the costs of inaction far outweighed the added cost motorists would pay at the pump. He went through a litany of transportation projects around the state that have been stalled by a lack of funds.

The wolf has now shed his sheep's clothing. Keeping with traditional politics, Gov. O'Malley has proposed his mid-term huge tax increase package as part of his 2012 budget. It is unconscionable that the governor would propose such an array of significant tax increases during this period of unprecedented economic turmoil that has negatively affected so many Marylanders. From limiting income tax deductions at income levels far lower than President Obama is proposing, to doubling the "flush tax," to adding a 6 percent tax to every gallon of gasoline, as just a few examples, the governor seems really committed to making Maryland Number One!

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.

Gov. Martin O'Malley wants to apply Maryland's 6 percent sales tax to gasoline, a change that at current prices would add 18 cents a gallon to the cost at the pump. The increase — to be phased in over three years —would be on top of the 23.5 cents per gallon gas tax the state has been charging since 1992. The change would require the approval of the Maryland General Assembly, where its prospects are uncertain. O'Malley's proposal — which comes as he also is calling for higher income taxes and sewage treatment fees — drew cries of protest from the service station industry and Annapolis Republicans, among others.