Paid for by Citizens for Colburn Committee. Authority John W. Phillips, Jr., Treasurer

Full dualization could cost $180M
By JOHN EVANS
Caroline County Editor - Star Democrat
September 27, 2005

DENTON — A State Highway Administration official told proponents of dualizing State Route 404 the project could cost $180 million, take at least 10 years to complete, and lacks funding.

“There is no way to predict how long it would take to complete the dualization,” even if it were started today, said Ken Briggs, SHA director of highway design. “That is because there is no funding for any of this and we do not know when or if the funding would come.”

Briggs said the design team will proceed with the five-phase plan for dualization outlined at a meeting last Wednesday in Denton, but the SHA is still a long way from being able to make any assurance that the first phase could even begin.

According to Briggs, the process comes in multiple stages.

• the current stage, which is the preliminary development phase. Enough of a design is developed to give federal officials an idea of what the project is.

• an environmental process — according to Briggs there are several environmental issues to be addressed along the route.

• taking the plan to the Federal Highway Administration for approval for final design funding, which is not currently funded.

• The acquisition of properties needed along the right-of-way, which is not funded.

• the actual construction process, which is also unfunded.

Funding must come through the budgets of either the federal or state departments of transportation, which requires allocation approval from the federal or state governments.

“It is so difficult to know how much we will be funded and when,” Briggs said. “We expect that it will come and we are hopeful we will be able to do it in bits and pieces.

It will take lots of money, so we can’t do it all at once.”

While that news did not sit well with those in attendance, C-TEAM officials and the politicians on hand tried to take the news in stride.

Jim Voss, chairman of the C-Team (Citizens for Transportation Emergency Action for Maryland), said if the project was to be completed in 10 years — the original C-team goal for dualization of that part of 404 — it would call for funding at the rate of $20 million a year.

“What they have shown us tonight is a real blueprint for construction and dualization west of the Denton bypass. For it to become a reality it will take both federal and state dollars to get into construction,” Voss said.

“We’ve said all along that we have set 10 years as the objective, that would be about 20 million dollars a year aggregate from both state and federal funding,” he said.

“I think it is a good sign that the SHA officials met with us to show us what the new plans are and to get our input,” Voss added. “I feel that we have made a lot of progress over the last four years, but I also feel there is a long, long way to go.”

State Sen. Richard F. Colburn, R-Mid-Shore, who has spearheaded the fight for 404 funding in the Maryland Senate, said he could support the new plan.

“It seems like the best plan,” he said. “The study shows where the areas where the most accidents and fatalities are and this plan seems to address those areas first.

“We’d like to get all five phases done at once, it would be cheaper and better, but because of the cost, it in all likelihood will be done in phases,” Colburn said. “The vast amount of money that will be needed will likely have to be federal funds.

“(Maryland) Senators (Barbara) Mikulski and (Paul) Sarbanes have done an excellent job helping secure funding in the past,” he added. “Sen. Mikulski has been a leader. We all have to continue fighting for the funding to get this project done.”