Maryland is shifting gears with its plan to add high occupancy toll (HOT) managed toll lanes to key Washington, DC-area highways, announcing on May 11 it would shed most of that planned expansion on the controversial I-495/Capital Beltway segment. The state Dept. of Transportation will now focus its public-private partnership arrangement on a new Potomac River crossing for the Beltway and HOT lanes added just to a 9.3-mile segment of I-270.
The agency still plans to deliver the project as a P3, although finalizing a contract for the initial development phase remains stalled by a bid protest that has not completed its process.