Federal funding for Base Realignment and Closure expansion must continue its current flow into Maryland to handle the thousands of incoming jobs ? or face congested roads ? officials said.
“As quick as you get the money, new needs emerge. It?s ongoing,” said Jawauna Greene, spokeswoman for the Maryland Transit Administration, which is seeking $15 million for new MARC rail cars and station improvements.
So far this month, the U.S. Senate has earmarked nearly $900 million for new buildings to house new employees coming via BRAC and for transportation projects to expand the roads and rails.
Federal funding, aimed mostly at project planning, is coming in at the level and timeliness needed, officials said.
“The numbers seem right on for what we need to do here,” said Chad Jones, Fort Meade?s public affairs officer.
Congress has mandated the BRAC influx be completed by September 2011, and officials have said Fort Meade in Anne Arundel and Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford are moving on schedule.
For state and county governments, federal funding accounts for 80 percent of major road projects and 50 percent of most transit projects, officials said.
The remainder is paid by the state, and some say declining revenues could cripple the fragile state transportation trust fund.
“I fear we?re going to have less monies than anticipated, and we?ll see this fall how it pertains to BRAC,” said Donald Fry, president of the Greater Baltimore Committee and a former state senator.
The U.S. Senate is looking to pump $3 million into Fort Meade and $3 million into Aberdeen Proving Ground, mainly to expand intersections at the installations? gates.
Those improvements are “Band-Aids to try and stop the bleeding” of traffic congestion until the larger road expansions can be done, said George Caldwell, Anne Arundel transportation administrator.
But as officials have often stressed, major improvements won?t be ready by 2011.
“There is a concern, as we?re competing with a lot of other places for the small amount of dollars available,” said James Richardson, Harford?s BRAC coordinator.
The Maryland congressional delegation, led by Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski, has helped Maryland become one of the top winners of BRAC funding, officials said.
The next wave of federal money will account for bricks, mortar and asphalt at the installations, officials said.
“It?s a sign that should alleviate questions in anyone?s mind whether or not BRAC is going to take place,” Fry said.
