Civil/Highway
Maryland Traffic Relief Plan to Provide Opportunity By American DBE Staff
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aryland's Department of Transportation Traffic Relief Plan will offer opportunity to diverse firms based on a commitment and goal by the agency to provide outreach and assistance to firms with the desire to participate. Secretary Pete Rahn believes success in fostering DBE and MBE participation will have lasting positive impact on businesses in the Greater Washington, D.C. area that can be similar to results achieved on the I-64 project in St Louis, Missouri that is now called “The Missouri Model" by the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). The Greater Washington, D.C. area is widely known as one of most congested metropolitan areas in U.S., rivaling cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta for choking traffic both on the areas highways and main thoroughfares. This longstanding problem has existed for decades, but Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and Transportation Secretary Rahn believe it is finally time to tackle this problem. “The time is now,” Rahn said. “This will break loose the choking congestion the D.C. area in Maryland is experiencing. This is part of an overall plan to free up roadways and improve quality of life; and keep the region economically viable as an attractive place to locate businesses.” MDOT is making plans for a massive public-private partnership as Phase I of a recently developed traffic relief
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plan. The plan is a comprehensive study of mobility in the region and will include strategies to improve traffic on major highways and roadways. Rahn expects the initial P3 project to result in $3 to $5 billion in improvements along Interstates 495 and 270, as well as other system improvements. The project will also make use of innovative technologies such as intelligent signaling and tolling systems. Concurrent to Phase I, MDOT will also forge ahead on Phase II of the plan which will certainly stretch the civil construction industry thin in the region. “This will be a huge demand on the construction industry within the region and there will be opportunities for the diverse contracting community.” Rahn said. Key aspects of the Traffic Relief Program will include major improvements to I-495 and I-270. These are two of the most congested highways on the Maryland side of the Washington D.C. area, and are two of the busiest highways in the country. Planned improvements along these highways include new express toll lanes, new interchanges and expanded general traffic lanes. Similar improvements are also planned on the BaltimoreWashington Parkway, where MDOT has assumed control of the parkway from the federal government. MDOT is at the beginning stages of preparing to implement the Traffic Relief Program and plans to finalize
