Maryland to invest $4.4 billion in transportation infrastructure

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley late last week signed a $4.4 billion transportation infrastructure bill that will provide funds for highway and transit projects over the next six years.

After signing the bill, O'Malley announced the first round of highway and transit project allocations — $1.2 billion — that will be funded with money generated by the Transportation Infrastructure Investment Act of 2013.

The first-round allocations will include $100 million for MARC enhancements and $170 million for final design of the Red Line; $280 million for the Purple Line; and $100 million for the Corridor Cities Transitway.

The legislation also creates new ways of funding the state's transportation projects, including indexing the gas tax to the consumer price index to adjust for inflation; and applying a percentage of the state sales tax to the price of gasoline, O'Malley and Maryland Department of Transportation officials said in a press release. The new funding methods will take effect annually over the next six years.