Officials Outline Six-Year Draft Budget and Provide Key Project Updates
HANOVER, MD (October 22, 2024) – Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld and other agency leaders met today with officials in Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester counties to discuss the Department’s Draft Consolidated Transportation Program for Fiscal Years 2025 to 2030. The $18.9 billion, six-year spending plan invests in projects and programs that help advance Maryland’s goals to be a safer, more affordable, more competitive and more sustainable State that leaves no one behind.
“We are making strategic investments to further enhance the safety of our system and maintain operations," said Secretary Wiedefeld. “This draft budget is balanced but we had to make tough decisions and reductions to live within our means. We will continue to follow the data and make investments that support Maryland families in a fiscally responsible manner.”
The safety of all Marylanders is the top priority of the Department, and that is reflected in the Draft CTP, with projects that prioritize maintaining the current system and seek to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries on Maryland’s roads. To view the full Draft FY 2025-2030 Consolidated Transportation Program, go to
www.ctp.maryland.gov.
At Tuesday’s meetings, transportation officials offered details and updates on several projects and programs affecting Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester counties. In addition to Secretary Wiedefeld and Deputy Secretary Samantha Biddle, officials attending included State Highway Administrator William Pines; Motor Vehicle Administrator Chrissy Nizer; Maryland Transit Administration Local Transit Support Director Travis Johnston; Maryland Transportation Authority Director of Planning and Program Development Melissa Williams; Maryland Aviation Administration Regional Aviation Director Ashish Solanki; and Maryland Port Administration Deputy Executive Director Bob Munroe.
Administrator Pines highlighted the agency’s commitment to move forward with multimodal projects that improve safety, accessibility and mobility statewide and said State Highway has worked in the past year to streamline its process to grant highway access permits, which supports commercial, industrial and residential development.
Administrator Pines noted the completion of multiple resurfacing and roadway improvement projects across the region, including on sections of MD 392, MD 355 and MD 336 in Caroline, on several miles of MD 33 in Talbot and along US 50 between Bucktown Road and the Choptank River bridge in Cambridge. Crews also performed maintenance work on the US 50 bridge over the Nanticoke River in Vienna.
Among other important local investments in the Draft Consolidated Transportation Program:
- Sidewalk improvements along Bayly Road from Maces Lane to Governors Avenue near Mace’s Lane Middle School in Dorchester County as part of the Safe Routes to School program. This is a $192,000 project funded through a Transportation Alternatives grant.
- Adkins Arboretum in Caroline County will receive a $179,150 grant from the Recreational Trails Program to replace the bridge deck, create a new trail, improve accessibility and perform trail maintenance.
- A $1.08 million-dollar Transportation Alternatives grant to build a 1.25-mile extension to the St. Michaels Nature Trail in Talbot County, including a bridge over wetlands and various amenities.
- The Easton Airport is getting $541,000 in Fiscal Year 2025. The funding, through the Maryland Aviation Administration’s Statewide Aviation Grants program, will support runway safety area improvements, the runway extension, land acquisition, and important obstruction removal.
- The Cambridge-Dorchester Regional Airport is receiving $36,000 in funding to support important obstruction removal.
- Investments of more than $800,000 in Dorchester County to support local transit operations and nearly $1 million in operating and capital grants to support local transit operations provided by Delmarva Community Transit (DCT) in Caroline, Talbot and Kent counties.
The meetings are part of the Maryland Department of Transportation’s engagement process in all 23 Maryland counties and Baltimore City to discuss the funding plan and receive input from local officials and the public. The tour concludes this week. Dates and locations for upcoming sessions can be found
here. The schedule is subject to change and will be updated as needed throughout the process.
The six-year Draft CTP outlines capital investments in each mode funded by the Transportation Trust Fund: Maryland Aviation Administration, Maryland Port Administration, Maryland Transit Administration, Motor Vehicle Administration, State Highway Administration and The Secretary's Office, as well as Maryland's investment in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The Maryland Transportation Authority's toll facilities are financed, constructed, operated and maintained with toll revenues paid by customers using those facilities.
Following the tour, the Maryland Department of Transportation will finalize the Draft CTP and submit the Final Fiscal Year 2025-2030 CTP to the Legislature in January for consideration during the 2025 General Assembly session.