Maryland's Delaying The Extension Is A Nightmare Scenario at the Already-Clogged American Legion Bridge.

What a disappointment to learn today that the Australian toll company Transurban, backed out and suspends progress on replacing the American Legion Bridge to relieving the congested Capital Beltway and Interstate 270 with high-occupancy toll lanes. The new Maryland administration lead by Gov. Wes Moore (D) did not grant the extension, so the consortium exercised a contract provision to walk away.

For those not familiar with the Washington, DC Metropolitan region,?the American Legion Bridge is the main commuter bridge crossing the Potomac River between Northern Virginia and Maryland. It provides faster and the main direct connection for commuters in DC metro area by reducing travel time and traffic congestion. There are over one million people living in Montgomery County and almost another million and half living in Northern Virginia, basically over 45% of the region's population that depend on this commute to live and work.

I lived in Montgomery county, Maryland for over nine years before moving to Virginia. In almost a decade, I had to drive to Virginia every single day to go to work. Crossing the American Legion bridge it it every commuter's nightmare. You lose in average over three hours daily back and forth. During my daily commute, not once I witnessed the Maryland Department of Transportation fixing, repairing or enhancing in any way a bridge that it was built in 1963.

The Maryland Department of Transportation has received $13.4 Billion for a six year capital budget, and as part of Infrastructure Investment Act, the state also received an additional $4.6 Billion funding for federal highways and bridges. As a taxpayer myself, I am asking where is the money going? and how it is used for?

According to the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, in 1965 the American Legion Bridge carried 48,000 vehicles daily. Today, daily traffic averages 235,000 vehicles, and by 2040 it is projected to increase to 280,000.

Maryland’s new Gov. Wes Moore (D) claims the project is not designed with more transit or equity for underserved communities. Before that, it was opposed by officials by Montgomery and Prince George’s counties stating the toll lanes would primarily benefit the wealthy and encouraging more cars on the road would harm the environment. These claims are nothing, but bulloney. I don't belong to the wealthy class and there is nothing privilege about driving my vehicle to go to work. I am part of the thousands of working age individuals who select to drive because the distance from my former residence to Tysons it is merely only a 15 miles drive, but taking the Metro from Shady Grove to go to Tysons, Virginia would take over an hour and a zig zag ride.

Indeed, Maryland it is not attracting neither investment or jobs and that is one of the reasons, why thousands of commuters cross the American Legion Bridge every day. In addition, according to the Census, the senior's and baby boomer population has increased in Maryland over 35% this past decade.

In conclusion, Maryland will continue losing the working age population, because more young families are selecting Northern Virginia as an ideal place to work and live. The decision to suspend progress on replacing the American Legion Bridge and relieving the congested Capital Beltway, and Interstate 270 it is a potentially insurmountable setback to a $6 billion plan first announced in 2017 by Maryland’s previous governor, Republican Larry Hogan.

The Moore administration could procure another company other than Transurban to step in and start a new bid to operate on the same project, but at the time of a new selection process, the cost most likely double or triple at the expense of taxpayers. This new delay set up a potential nightmare scenario at the already-clogged American Legion Bridge.

The decision from the new Maryland Governor seems political in nature and very little to do with benefiting the commuters in his home state. Time will tell.