Call it the highway of opportunity.Projected to attract 10,000 new jobs and more than $460 million in private investment, state and local officials are expected to trumpet the new 3.8-mile extension of Route 43 Monday as the cornerstone of economic development in eastern Baltimore County.
“We?re very excited,” Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith told The Examiner Wednesday. “A lot of locals will take those jobs. It will be a great opportunity to work close to where you live.”
The 1,000-acre tract between Pulaski Highway in White Marsh to Eastern Boulevard in Middle River is the largest available property zoned for business use in the county, officials said.
Construction is under way on two business parks: the 5.5 million-square-foot Baltimore Crossroads at 95 ? where four buildings are completed and two more are in the pipeline ? and the Windlass Run Business Park.
The project, which required $45 million from the state, $10.5 million from the county and $4.5 million from the private sector, took decades of planning, said Fronda Cohen, spokeswoman for the county?s economic development office. Gov. Robert Ehrlich joined Smith at a groundbreaking ceremony in August 2003 and will lead the parade down the extension Monday morning. The road will officially open later that afternoon.
“This was the first transportation project that [Ehrlich] announced when he took office, which demonstrates how near and dear it is to his heart as a personal project,” said the governor?s spokesman Henry Fawell. Tenants already slated for the business parks include St. John Properties and Alexander?s Mobility Services, Smith said.
