The board for Maryland’s tolling authority approved a contract Tuesday for two Australian firms to develop toll lanes for part of the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270, even as the contract remains under protest by a losing bidder.
The contract would be limited to the two companies, Transurban and Macquarie, doing preliminary design at their own expense. However, it also would give them the right of first refusal on a broader agreement worth billions to build the lanes and keep most of the toll revenue over 50 years in exchange for financing construction.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) proposed the highway widenings in 2017 to relieve congestion and form a regional network of express lanes with Northern Virginia, which has more than 50 miles of toll lanes. Toll lanes would be free for carpools and buses, and regular lanes would remain free. Hogan has said the project would come at “no net cost” to taxpayers.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Katherine Shaver over at The Washington Post
