Gov. Wes Moore and the state’s chief financial officers approved nearly half a billion dollars in extra funds for the Purple Line on Wednesday, even as they condemned the embattled project’s mounting delays and escalating costs.
Nearly seven years after construction began, transit authorities returned to the Board of Public Works yet again this month, this time seeking an additional $425 million for the light-rail project. It was the fourth such request since 2016 to supplement the Purple Line’s original $5.6 billion budget.
Following the three-member board’s unanimous but reluctant approval, the total cost of the Purple Rail is now approaching $10 billion.
“Not anyone in our administration is happy that we find ourselves, once again, in a position to have to increase the cost of this project,” Moore said.
