MDOT applies for federal funding for Howard Street tunnel expansion, again

President Trump’s decision to replace the FASTLANE federal infrastructure grant program means the Maryland Department of Transportation must reapply for funding to expand a critical intermodal tunnel outside the Port of Baltimore.    Maryland must reapply for a federal grant for reconstruction funding for a critical intermodal tunnel to and from the Port of Baltimore.
   The 121-year-old Howard Street Tunnel has become a high transit priority due to the current height restrictions which prevent double-stacked intermodal containers by rail from reaching the Port of Baltimore. The project has an estimated cost of $425 million with the state committing $145 million and CSX Corp., which owns and maintains the tunnel, contributing $125 million.
   The state first applied in December for a $155 million Fastlane grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the tunnel project and $76 million for new highway ramps off Interstate 95 and roadwork surrounding the 266-acre Port Covington redevelopment.
   At the time of the grant request, the state said the tunnel project would boost intermodal transits, port business and jobs.
   “The Port of Baltimore would handle approximately 80,000 additional containers annually once the Howard Street Tunnel is reconstructed,” said the state. The tunnel has been an issue for the port for years; then-Governor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake originally pushed for a joint funding program with CSX to boost intermodal rail service to the port in 2012.
   However, President Trump’s administration has replaced the Fastlane program with the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) discretionary grant program that will make $1.5 billion available to projects, meaning Maryland must reapply under the rules and procedures of the new program.
   According to Erin Henson, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Transportation, the new submission process opened June 29 and closes Nov. 2, and Maryland will reapply for both the I-95 access improvement project and the Howard Street Tunnel expansion.
   Hensen said the U.S. Department of Transportation said it changed the program because “the current system is not working.” The new program features different application methods that require jurisdictions to resubmit their applications, according to local news source the Baltimore Business Journal.
   “Projects that use innovative approaches to make each the federal dollar go further and encourage more parties to put skin in the game through higher leverage, are willing implement innovative approaches to permitting and project delivery, and project sponsors willing to measure their performance and hold themselves accountable will all find something to like,” USDOT said of the program, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.
   The new program aims to increase total investment by encouraging public-private partnerships. The U.S. Department of Transportation also wants to focus on projects where local sponsors are “significantly invested” and able to proceed rapidly to construction, said the Baltimore Business Journal.