Governor’s Workshops for Local Leaders

MD Dept of Transportation overview of Phase 1 and Phase 2 plans
- Don Halligan, Office of Planning & Capital Programming

March  4, 2009

Mr. Patoka:  One of the things you'll note from both the Q and A and on the agenda is that there's a website listed and it's www.recovery.maryland.gov.  And it's a terrific website that helps to understand some of the complexities and also what we're doing moving forward with the ARRA. 

One of the reasons we were all a bit late coming up here is because we were tweaking that website until about 4:00 or 4:30 to create easy click-on buttons for grant opportunities and also for contract opportunities.  So we're trying to make this thing as user friendly and as transparent as possible.  It's a lot of work in a short amount of time, but please visit the site.  The Vice President's Chief of Staff went to the site and told Governor O'Malley that Maryland had the best website of any state in the country on the stimulus act and he is sending it around as a model.  So please take some time tonight, tomorrow or sometime this week to go to www.recovery.maryland.gov.

And our next speaker is from the Maryland Department of Transportation and it's Don Halligan. 

Mr. Halligan:  Good evening, everyone.  Is this working?  All right, I'll speak up.  It's warm in here, so hopefully I'll be quick, so I don't put us all to sleep here. 

I want to give you a little bit of background regarding the transportation portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA as we're calling it, otherwise known as stimulus.  It appropriates about $48.2 billion in total transportation funding nationally; $35.2 billion of it is in our regular Federal formula  programs, delivered through regular Federal programs. 

It's 100 percent money, so no local match is required.  And there's no specific earmarks, something unusual for bills today in Congress, none contained in the bill. 

As Izzy mentioned, it allocates $610 million roughly to Maryland.  You might -- for those of you that are following transportation expenditures we recently announced a $2.1 billion reduction in our capital program.  We had to defer $2.1 billion worth of funds out of our program so that this money restores about 30 percent of that reduction.  We welcome that. 

The important parameters of  the requirements in the bill were speedy delivery.  Speed is of the essence, particularly because we're hearing from our contracting community that jobs are on the line, so we are trying to get projects out there to preserve and to support them, preserve those jobs that are there, as well as hopefully create some new jobs. 

Another important parameter is to be an equitable distribution for all of Maryland, the One Maryland for those of you who are familiar with that. 

Delivering projects and delivering projects via existing formula funding mechanisms.  Our approach has been to focus on our existing infrastructure, to make the most out of what we have, make the most out of our existing investments, so it's a fix-it first approach.  And  we intend to deliver a diverse mix of system preservation and maintenance projects around the State.  You see that in our Phase 1 projects that have recently been announced.  These are highway and bridges that they're repaving, they're ADA compliance activities, pedestrian bike facilities, stormwater drainage improvements, safety improvements, environmental projects, transit projects or bus procurements, transit facility improvements, and local projects, locally operated transit systems around the State.

I mentioned we rolled out Phase 1.  ARRA was announced two weeks ago -- or, it was approved two weeks ago and we're happy to say that Maryland has gotten the first injection of stimulus funds.  We were able to get the first project in the country, down on New Hampshire Avenue in the Washington, D.C. area.  It's a resurfacing project of Maryland 650 down there. 

Phase 1 delivers $360 million in highway and transit formula funded projects, it was targeted on those types of projects I just mentioned.  We're thinking Phase 2 will deliver about $273 million of additional highway and transit projects.  These projects we expect to be a combination of State and local projects. 

Phase 3 we're thinking of as discretionary programs that are available, we're waiting to hear from U.S. DOT on guidance on those discretionary opportunities that we expect.  And we're thinking of a Phase 4 later on, after we have used all our money and folks are turning back money or otherwise having their money reallocated.  We'd like to be in a position to be able to use that money as well. 

There's a lot to consider when we were selecting projects for Phase 1 and as we move ahead towards Phase 2.  Some of those things -- some of the criteria we thought about, considered, were project readiness.  The project must be ready to go, it must be Federal aid eligible under current laws and it must be -- it must have completed all its preconstruction steps, that includes planning, design, right-of-way, public input, environmental permitting, DBE goals and have a firm scope and estimates. 

And that's because if we aren't ready to go, we're going to lose it.  It's a use it or lose it sort of situation. 

It also requires us to spend 50 percent of that money outside of  urbanized areas within the first 120 days for highways and 180 days for transit.  So it was important for us to get out a first wave of projects and that's what Phase 1 represents. 

It was also important for us, as I mentioned, to spread that money around as equitably as possible, so Statewide coverage was very important, because the intent of the program really is to create jobs and we're trying to do that in every corner of the State.  So we're trying to create sets of projects that do just that. 

Also what was important is the type of work that's available, so the type and balance of work that's available when the contracts are let is also very important to us.  And we're trying to phase that so that we don't unnecessarily drive up costs, and spread that money around. 

We're continuing to do coordination and outreach with our stakeholders, our Federal partners, the Federal administration, and other State agencies, Federal highway, Federal Transit Administration, USDOT, Metropolitan Planning organizations around the State -- we have six of those.   We're reaching out to the General Assembly and to the Congressional Delegation, cities and counties, permitting agencies and the private industry, and we're holding various events to do that. 

I circulated a two-pager that has some more specific information about Phase 1 and ARRA.

So I'll be around here for the next hour or so to answer questions.  (Applause.)

Mr. Patoka:  Thank you, Don. 

 

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