Free Republic

Maryland voters narrowly oppose adding express toll lanes to widen three of the state’s most congested highways, a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll finds, highlighting public skepticism about one of Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature transportation plans. The centerpiece of the Republican governor’s proposal — a $9 billion project to add four lanes apiece to the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway — is even opposed by voters in the Washington suburbs, whom the plan is supposed to help. More than half of voters in the D.C. suburbs prefer to invest in public transit rather than building more roads....

Maryland is moving forward on its plan to add four toll lanes to both Interstate 270 and the Capital Beltway. On Thursday, the state’s transportation department announced it received 27 responses to its request for initial information from companies interested in financing, building and operating the estimated $7.6 billion project. “This is a significant and very positive step in the process,” State Highway Administrator Greg Slater said in a statement. “This level of interest indicates that industry is meeting our demand … for transformative and innovative ideas to address the congestion issue in Maryland ….” The state received responses from...

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office has called into question the state’s authority to grant permission to Tesla founder Elon Musk’s tunneling startup, The Boring Co., to build several miles of tunnels for his high-speed Hyperloop transportation system below the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. The State Highway Administration granted a conditional utility permit on Oct. 16 to allow The Boring Co. to begin building the tunnels, if the company supplies additional information about the project and it meets all necessary requirements. But the Hyperloop system “is not a utility under federal standards or SHA’s federally-approved utility accommodation policies,” Assistant Attorney General David Stamper...

Gov. Larry Hogan never met a highway project he didn’t like. He’s a 1950s type of politician – solve all the state’s transportation gridlock and congestion by paving the countryside with lanes of new concrete.He’s got a $9 billion plan that is a lollapalooza: Let construction giants build and pay for toll lanes on the Capital Beltway and the busy I-270 corridor from the beltway to Frederick – 70 miles of exclusive Lexus lanes – and let those companies reap the toll rewards so they can recoup a staggering $7.6 billion investment (the actual cost is likely to be substantially...

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — A person believed responsible for shootings along highways over the last two weeks in the Baltimore-Washington area, including shots that damaged a National Security Agency building, is in custody, the FBI said early Wednesday. The FBI believes the person in custody is responsible for shootings along Maryland highways, including one near the Fort Meade Army installation, which is home to the NSA, FBI spokeswoman Amy Thoreson said in a statement. She said no other information was available early Wednesday.

Park Police officials told News4 they're investigating a report of shots fired along BW Parkway and Route 32 in Fort Meade, Maryland. The National Security Agency is located nearby, and has reported that one of their buildings has been damaged by what appears to be gunfire. NSA and Park Police officials are investigating whether the incidents are related. No word of any injuries.