Maryland’s Strategy to Stimulate the Economy and Protect Jobs
Through Transportation Investment

These are challenging times in Maryland and across our nation. The current economic downturn is impacting both families and businesses throughout our State, putting jobs at risk and causing great hardship for many of our families.  Yet, despite these difficult economic times, there is still reason for optimism. We remain a strong State and we have tremendous new partners in the Obama Administration who share our commitment to progress. Through the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President Obama is giving us the tools we need to help our families pull through these tough economic times quickly, while working to secure a better future for generations to come.

Here in Maryland, this legislation is already allowing us to make crucial investments in our roads, bridges, tunnels, and public transit system, while sustaining as many as 20,000 infrastructure-related jobs throughout our State. Following a visit from Vice President Joe Biden earlier this year, we have already been able to give the green light to critical improvements to our MARC station in Laurel, Maryland, a symbol of the important investments in our aging infrastructure that will be made across our One Maryland.

Only 24 hours after President Obama signed this landmark legislation into law, we had already announced the first wave of transportation projects in Maryland that will benefit from this federal investment. By moving aggressively, Maryland was able to begin construction in early March on the first project in the nation to be approved by the Federal Highway Administration under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  It is especially important that we move quickly so that we can quickly create jobs for Marylanders who will begin the work of strengthening our infrastructure. The funding we receive will be focused on “shovel ready” system preservation projects. These are projects that are ready to go, and do not require significant pre-construction work.

Now, through this website, every citizen can stay up-to-date on all the transportation investments we are making with federal economic recovery funds. You can find information on “Phase I” transportation investments already available on this site, and the projects that make up “Phase II” are available as well. The decisions for how to use federal funding for transportation projects rest on these key principles:

Fix It First: Maryland’s highest priority will be on system preservation – the repair and rebuilding of our roads, bridges, transit and other transportation infrastructure that is already in place.

One Maryland: Transportation projects funded with these federal dollars will be located in every region of the State to address transportation needs utilizing the local workforce wherever possible.

Maximize Benefit: MDOT will aggressively pursue any and all funding, including discretionary funding, to invest in Maryland’s transportation infrastructure.

Transparency and Accountability: The process for the selection of projects and the benefits of their construction will be made readily available to the public so that citizens can see what has been done and why.

The information provided at this site is the first step towards delivering on these principles. Please visit the site often, as the content will evolve and updates will be made on a regular basis as we begin this historic investment in Maryland’s infrastructure.

We will continue to work with all our local elected officials, municipal planning organizations and citizens throughout our State as we continue moving forward toward building that better future we all prefer.

    Martin O’Malley
    Governor