Maryland is racing to catch up with Virginia in tolling its roads, planning not only to modernize old toll facilities but also orchestrating a mammoth network of new toll lanes in its Washington suburbs.
The most tangible expansion in the works is a $1.1 billion extension of the express toll lanes in the Interstate 95 corridor, north of Baltimore, where construction is expected to begin next year. But an even more ambitious plan would add toll lanes on the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495), Interstate 270 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (Interstate 295).
The $9 billion project, announced in September, would be the biggest such public-private partnership in the country, and could require years if not decades to build. But Maryland is taking key steps this summer to advance it.
State transportation officials are scheduled to present preliminary construction alternatives for the plan in July , providing the most detail to date of what the project might look like on I-270 and the Beltway. The program would allow the construction of four toll lanes on each of the highways, potentially more than doubling the state’s existing toll network of 124 centerline miles.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Luz Lazo over at the Washington Post