Gov. Wes Moore and the state’s chief financial officer on Wednesday approved nearly $500 million in additional funding for the Purple Line, even as they decried mounting delays and soaring costs for the beleaguered project.
Nearly seven years after construction began, transportation officials returned to the Public Works Commission again this month. Seeking an additional $425 million For light rail projects. This is the fourth request since 2016 to supplement the Purple Line’s original $5.6 billion budget.
Following unanimous but reluctant approval by the three-member board, the total cost of Purple Rail is now approaching $10 billion.
“No one in our administration is happy to be in the position of having to increase the cost of this project again,” Moore said.
“Capacity is a basic demand of the people of this state,” he added, “and we are still cleaning up this mess of years of mismanagement on this project.”
of 16 miles east-west lineis designed to run between New Carrollton and Bethesda and is being constructed through a public-private agreement with Purple Line Transit Partners. The group will be responsible for building, operating and maintaining the system until 2057.
Moore’s predecessor, former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration, Introduced private companies Collaborate with states on projects. The public-private partnership, known as P3, was part of an effort to reduce costs for taxpayers. However, the project has been plagued by numerous problems, including significant construction delays and disputes with contractors.
Capital News Agency attempted to contact the former governor, who is now a Senate candidate, after Wednesday’s meeting. Neither Mr. Hogan nor his campaign had responded by the time of publication.
During Wednesday’s debate over whether to increase funding, board member Brooke Lierman, the state comptroller, took aim at public-private partnerships, saying the Purple Line would “finance complex, long-term transportation projects under the P3 model. “It shows the folly of relying on
“Everyone in Maryland today carries the burden of the mistakes made by the previous administration,” Lierman said. “I don’t like voting for this, but we have to work hard to make sure we meet our obligations to Maryland riders.”
At Wednesday’s meeting, Maryland Department of Transportation Administrator Holly Arnold said the Purple Line is more than 65% complete, with construction underway at 13 of the 21 planned stations and a total of 17,000 stations. He said linear feet of rail have been laid. The long-delayed project’s completion date has been pushed back to winter 2027.
Arnold added that the $425 million will be paid to Purple Line Transit Partners over several years and is conditional on achieving certain milestones, accountability measures aimed at accelerating progress on the project. Ta.
Still, board member and state treasurer Derek Davis lamented the project’s problems. “I just want to raise hell,” he said. He added that he considered voting “no” on the additional funding, but ultimately decided the project was too far gone to abandon.
“We are literally close to 100% [cost increase,]”There’s no real guarantee that that’s the end,” Davis said.