Worcester County leaders vocalized some concerns last week regarding the delay of certain priority projects during a meeting with state transportation representatives.
Cars are pictured driving on Route 90 near Ocean City.
File photo
By Bethany Hooper, Associate Editor
County leaders vocalized their concerns regarding the delay of certain priority projects during a meeting with state transportation representatives last week.
Last Tuesday, officials with the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) met with the Worcester County Commissioners to discuss the agency’s Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP) for fiscal years 2025-2023. While county leaders continue to push for major projects, including the dualization of Route 90, Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said budgetary challenges at the state level have led officials to pause certain projects.
“Regarding MDOT’s finances, to be frank, the department continues to face significant budgetary challenges because of the state’s slow economic growth, historic levels of inflation, rising costs of labor and materials, and revenues not growing at the rate that we anticipated,” he told the commissioner at the beginning of this week’s presentation.
Transportation officials reported the state’s six-year spending plan prioritizes projects and programs that maintain Maryland’s transportation system and reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries on Maryland’s roads. Wiedefeld told the commissioners Tuesday those goals were reflected in the draft CTP.
“Getting into the details, the draft CTP is balanced and totals $18.9 billion,” he said. “However, because of fiscal constraints, we had to make tough decisions and reductions to live within our means. This resulted in a reduction of $1.3 billion compared to last year’s CTP. This draft CTP presents a challenging road map, obviously, for the department and for the state. However, the department will continue to make strategic investments to support Maryland families in a fiscally responsible manner. And just like Maryland families who are making tough decisions in their own personal budgets, we also have to do the same with ours.”
State Highway Administrator Will Pines told county leaders efforts are being made to improve pedestrian safety and transportation infrastructure throughout Worcester County. He said that included a signalized crosswalk project at the intersection of Route 589 and Manklin Creek Road, an underground pipe replacement in Whaleyville, and shared-use path on Route 611, among other things.
Commissioner Chip Bertino thanked the State Highway Administration officials for installing the crosswalk at Route 589 but urged them to make additional improvements along the roadway. He said traffic continues to be a problem in the area.
“We have had increased traffic there this year, it seemed like more than ever,” he said. “And I know we’ve had this conversation every year that you’ve been here, and we have expressed in multiple ways our interest in seeing the state spend money and assets to improve that roadway.”
Pines, however, said that project remains unfunded. He added that any improvements along Route 589 would require the county to reserve right-of-way.
“We hope you understand the county is reluctant to placing restrictions on people’s private property until we have a commitment from the state to determine when, if and how they were going to move forward with the development of route 589 …,” Bertino replied. “I made my pitch again here and unfortunately nothing’s going to happen.”
Commissioner Joe Mitrecic also questioned when the Route 90 dualization project would be added back into the state’s CTP. Officials earlier this summer learned that budget constraints had paused the project.
“You say you’re about safety,” he said. “Well, Ocean City’s safety depends on Route 90 being dualized, and the Route 50 corridor being taken care of. I see you on here that we still have the Route 50 bridge on our shortlist here and, to me, Ocean City, Worcester County and everybody else has been asking about the Route 90 bridge for I don’t know how long now. We finally got some money from the former governor and then that was taken right out from underneath us this year.”
Wiedefeld noted that the project had been paused until additional revenues were found. He said Route 90 was one of the major projects that would likely be revisited during the Maryland General Assembly session.
“As you can imagine that would be, I think, a very large discussion in this upcoming general session in terms of revenues needed to support major projects throughout the entire state,” he replied.
County leaders, however, continued to share the importance of dualizing Route 90. Commissioner Eric Fiori asked if a local match could advance the project.
“We’ve all been fighting for this project for quite a while, and I’m just looking for some options for local community members to keep this moving forward,” he said.
Pines replied that in order to move forward with planning and design, the state would require a $2.75 million local match. Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-38) said it was the first time she was hearing of any option to advance the project.
“Until Commissioner Fiori actually asked the question, no options were presented on Route 90,” she said. “So, that was a little bit surprising to me because I think we as a community, the Worcester County Commissioners, the Town of Ocean City, and constituents, have made clear this is a priority.”
During last week’s meeting, Commissioner Caryn Abbott also questioned the status of a project to signalize the intersection at routes 13 and 366 in Pocomoke. She said the intersection would only get worse when a Wawa is constructed in the area.
“To me that’s a priority for my district,” she said.
Pines said the project is currently being evaluated by the Office of Traffic and Safety. Whether the project moves forward, he said, will depend on its eligibility to receive federal funds.
“If it is federally eligible, then we will be able to move it forward,” he replied. “If it’s not … then we may have to defer until the funds are available.”
Worcester County Chief Administrative Officer Weston Young noted that several intersection projects – including one at Route 611 and Assateague Road – have been paused. He questioned if there was also an opportunity to provide a local match to keep those projects moving forward.
“I think we should have discussions on any intersection improvement that you may want to be looking at,” Wiedefeld replied.
The presentation concluded with updates from MDOT’s other departments, including the Maryland Transit Administration, the Maryland Aviation Administration and the Motor Vehicle Administration. Bertino thanked transportation officials for meeting with the commissioners.
“We didn’t necessarily hear what we wanted to hear, but we certainly appreciate you being here and taking the time to drive down,” he said.
MDOT officials on Tuesday met with officials in Worcester, Wicomico and Somerset counties to discuss the state’s draft CTP. The meetings are part of the agency’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, MDOT reports.
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.