Baltimore leaders pleaded with state lawmakers to restore proposed cuts to future transportation funding Thursday, following a vote by the Maryland State Senate that makes the cuts more likely to be headed for final approval.
Appearing at a news conference along a East Baltimore street in need of repair, Mayor Brandon Scott, members of the City Council and city transportation officials said the cuts represent $60 million a year for fiscal years 2026 through 2028. Without the money, the planned resurfacing of Ashland Avenue, Belair Road, Pulaski Highway, Druid Park Lake Drive and other city thoroughfares will be in jeopardy, they said.
“There is no more asphalt to be kicked down the road,” said Scott, a Democrat who is currently seeking reelection.
Facing a $3.3 billion shortfall in transportation funding, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced a plan late last year to implement cuts over the next six years that would limit services like roadway litter collection and commuter buses, delay the electrification of the state’s bus fleet and put on hold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of highway and road projects. That proposal was met with resistance from other state and local leaders, prompting Moore to restore $150 million of the proposed cuts.
Reductions to the same programs, however, are still scheduled for the years beyond the 2025-26 budget. On Wednesday, state Senators approved a bill which included the long-term cuts. It now heads to the Maryland House of Delegates for consideration.
“We understand that our state leaders inherited the challenges facing transportation funding from previous administrations,” Scott said. “But again today, we are calling for our state leaders to come together with all of us here at the local level to do the tough work of figuring out these issues long term.”
Jon Laria, an attorney with Ballard Spahr who co-chairs the Greater Baltimore Committee’s transportation committee, said the state of Baltimore’s roads and bridges is not just a danger to residents and drivers, but it damages the reputation and perception of the city.
Laria argued after the event that cementing future funding is as important as having money in place for the current budget year. The planning process for repairs including contract preparation, design and bidding must be done before paving begins, and Baltimore has to have funding secured to do that work, he said.
Baltimore has long fought for a greater share of the state’s highway user revenues, because the city is the only jurisdiction in Maryland responsible for maintaining all of its own roads and bridges as well as the city’s section of Interstate 83. A law passed in 2022 seemed to be a step in that direction. Under that law, Baltimore was to collect $78 million and $108 million more in the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years, respectively, as its share of the statewide funds was to increase to 12.2% in 2026, according to a legislative fiscal analysis.
However, Moore’s plan calls for keeping a 15.6% share of highway user revenue going to all local governments rather than the 18% to 20% approved for future years.
Corren Johnson, Baltimore’s director of transportation, said the cut will gut projects the city put in the pipeline with the understanding that additional funding would be available. About 170 miles of resurfaced roads are in jeopardy, she said.
“This will halt out progress for Baltimore overall,” she said.
