Road funds strapped

Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008

"[There is] not a lot of good news," Deputy Secretary Beverly K. Swaim-Staley said on Nov. 18. "… Unfortunately, the bad news is not over yet. The good news is, as you know, fuel prices are decreasing and we'll see if travel patterns improve."

Diane Radcliffe of the Maryland Transit Administration told the board that while the state would not be cutting its operational support to the commuter bus system serving the county, funding would not increase, either, and operations would stay at the same level in the coming fiscal year. Ridership of the two Washington, D.C.-bound bus routes has increased by 15 percent in the last year, and with a total of 31 trips to the city every weekday, the system is nearly at capacity.

The commissioners grilled the representatives about promised upgrades to the Park-and-Ride system, especially the condition of the Fairgrounds Road lot in Prince Frederick.

"It's unfortunate that the plan is to expand that lot and so far you have not been able to do that," said commissioners' President Wilson Parran (D). "It's been six years since the thing started and it's disappointing that the money wasn't included to finish that up."

Commissioner Linda Kelley (R) said users are complaining about the deterioration of the lot, especially potholes, and that the lot's poor condition reduces the number of cars it can hold.

"We're talking about a decade," Kelley said of the delay. "That lot is in miserable shape. People are complaining all the time and they should be."

The news was not all bleak, however. State Highway Administrator Neil Pedersen said the one fund is flush with federal cash — a fund for repairing and replacing bridges.

"One area where we do have money available — and I wanted to highlight this — is federal and local bridge funds," Pedersen said. "We encourage you to be working with public works staff on local projects so they can take advantage of these federal funds."

Pedersen also discussed plans for the Gov. Thomas Johnson Memorial Bridge replacement, saying the SHA has been unable to find records explaining why engineers designed the original bridge, linking Solomons with St. Mary's County, with its current dimensions, information useful for the redesign. But staff is coordinating with the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard on the matter, he said.

He also floated a new, tentative figure for the cost of the new structure; taking environmental impacts into account, the price tag could reach $600 million.

"Obviously, it's a very, very significant project but right now we need to figure out what is the right thing to do there. Then we'll work through the financial issues," Pedersen said.

Commissioner Jerry Clark (R) praised SHA for a job well done on the Southern Connector Road in Lusby, which links Route 2-4 with Rousby Hall Road near Patuxent High School.

"Thank you very much for all the hard work and everything you did for Calvert County," Clark said. "I don't think the full meaning of that project is fully understood by the citizens down there for what it's going to mean for traffic flow in the town center."

The commissioners congratulated Greg Welker, longtime SHA project engineer for Southern Maryland, on his promotion to deputy administrator.

Kelley said she was glad Welker would remain assigned to this area: "E-mailing Greg is like praying. You always get an answer. You may not like the answer but you always get an answer."

emitrano@somdnews.com