MDOT secretary: Budget bleak, but still some successes

CUMBERLAND — Maryland’s top transportation official said there have been large victories despite the bleak picture painted by current and short-term budget projections.

Beverley Swaim-Staley, who was appointed as secretary of the state Department of Transportation by Gov. Martin O’Malley last month, visited Allegany County’s administrative offices on Kelly Road on Thursday to review the draft Consolidated Transportation Program. The visit is part of the state’s annual tour to listen to county representatives on what they perceive as their top priorities.

“We had hoped, when we were here last fall, that we had taken the hardest (hit),” Swaim-Staley said.

Then another $1 billion was taken. The cuts “started hitting our system preservation. It has been difficult,” she said.

Swaim-Staley noted Maryland’s highly rated roadways and infrastructure improvement program, but cautioned that the system “may not always look like the one we had in the past.”

Neil Pedersen, administrator of State Highway Administration, said his employees are “tightening our belts” and while system preservation remains the No. 1 priority, “the public will start to see the effects” of less funding.

“We can’t stop safety (projects),” he said, “but beyond that, we’ve reduced mowing, we have less freeway litter pickup” as well as less time and money for road sweeping, pavement repairs, sign maintenance and drainage issues.

“All these things are important,” Pedersen said, “But we have to live within our means.”

“We are continuing to experience a poor economy,” Swaim-Staley said. “Although the Federal Reserve chairman said the recession is over, we’re not quite seeing those signs yet.”

Swaim-Staley said titling tax revenue has declined sharply and the federal “Cash for Clunkers” program, which gave tax credits to Americans who turned in certain types of vehicles for new, more fuel-efficient models, provided only about $1 million in revenue. Gas tax revenue also has declined, she said, and those reasons caused the state to cut another $300 million from its transportation program. Those cuts included layoffs, furloughs and reducing highway user revenue allocations to local governments — which has hit Allegany County and every municipality very hard.

“Maybe by 2011 into 2012, maybe we’ll start to see an increase in revenue,” Swaim-Staley said. “It’s not certain.”

Meanwhile, projects across the state are being funded by $600 million through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

“I can assure you, that money both created and saved (jobs),” she said. “It really saved our preservation program.”

Unlike in other areas, Swaim-Staley said the money is already being spent. At least 70 percent of the projects being funded by the federal stimulus package have been put to bid, she said.

Allegany County has received approximately $1.4 million in ARRA funds. The money has been used to reconstruct the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail over New Hope Road in Frostburg and several resurfacing projects, including one on U.S. Route 220 in Cresaptown and another along Cash Valley Road in LaVale, which the county commissioners approved to solicit bids for Thursday.

Additional federal money has been directed to Allegany County Transit to purchase new buses and upgrade facilities.

The transportation plan will be revised based on comments received by stakeholders before being submitted to O’Malley and the General Assembly in January.