The recent stimulus transportation project list contains no projects exclusively located in Montgomery County. That is an interesting choice for the O’Malley administration.
The distribution of the Governor’s project list is:
Statewide Safety, Resurfacing and Local Transit Vehicles: $203.8 million (55.8%)
Baltimore Region: $70.9 million (19.4%)
Baltimore City and Baltimore County: $39.3 million (10.8%)
Baltimore City: $30.4 million (8.3%)
Prince George’s County: $6.3 million (1.7%)
Annapolis and Anne Arundel, Howard, MoCo and Prince George’s: $5 million (1.4%)
Allegany, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Wicomico and Washington: $5 million (1.4%)
Anne Arundel: $3 million (0.8%)
Prince George’s, Howard and Upper Shore Environmental: $0.7 million (0.2%)
Baltimore County: $0.4 million (0.1%)
Cecil County: $0.4 million (0.1%)
Total: $365.2 million
Montgomery will get a share of some of the safety, resurfacing and local transit vehicle purchase projects. But the Baltimore Region, Baltimore City and Baltimore County were targeted for a combined $141 million (or 38.6% of the stimulus total) in exclusive projects. Montgomery’s percentage of exclusives? ZERO.
Update: In a new press release, MDOT reports that $33 million of the $203.8 million in safety, resurfacing and transit vehicle projects will be spent in Montgomery. The release states:
Phase I projects in Montgomery County include road, safety and transit investments totaling nearly $33 million dollars. The projects include resurfacing portions of:
– The Capital Beltway Between I-270 and the American Legion Bridge
– New Hampshire Avenue in White Oak;
– Old Georgetown Road near Bethesda; and
– University Boulevard in Wheaton.Transit grant funding will be provided to the county for “Ride On” bus replacement or facility upgrades – the specifics of which will be determined with the county. Phase I projects in Montgomery County also will deliver everything from: new ADA compliant sidewalks and safety guardrails to traffic signal upgrades at key intersections.
Our sources also tell us that the state may be counting federal investments in WMATA as targeted funds for Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.
Of course, if the state was really interested in making Montgomery whole, it could reimburse the county for the $73 million it is spending on jump-starting state projects. But there is no talk of that in Annapolis.