Maryland officials renew appeal for full federal funding of Key Bridge

Remnants of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Photo from the Maryland Department of Transportation Flickr account.

Maryland Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin urged a Senate panel Wednesday to support full federal funding to replace the Francis Scott Key Bridge, given the “off the charts” impact of the disaster.

“We are asking for the 100% because that’s what we’ve done in the past” for major disasters elsewhere in the country, Cardin said in testimony to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

“And we need it now because we are lending contracts to start the construction now. We don’t want to delay this, every month it’s delayed is an additional loss to our communities,” he said.

While committee Republicans appeared sympathetic, they balked at the argument by the Maryland lawmakers that the federal government should pick up 100% of the cost of the Key Bridge replacement.

Typically, the federal government pays 80% to 90% of state transportation projects. The Key Bridge replacement is currently projected to cost about $1.7 billion.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) noted that the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program is currently “drastically short of funding” and faces a backlog of projects in 38 states and territories. She suggested that since the Key Bridge is a revenue-generating facility, Maryland should be expected to use any toll revenue to reimburse the federal government.

“My understanding is that Maryland DOT (Department of Transportation) intends for the new bridge to also be a tolled facility. Which means there is a source of funding for Maryland DOT’s 10% cost share,” Capito said.

“In fact, this funding model was successfully used to construct the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland,” she said.

Cardin said in an interview after the hearing that Capito’s suggestion that the state dedicate Key Bridge toll revenues to the federal government “ is a manageable suggestion, but it’s just not fair.”

“Changing the share to 100% is totally consistent with the prior practices that we’ve done during emergencies,” he said at the hearing. “We did that for the I-35W in Minnesota, we did it for Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Fiona, all those we changed the share from 90% to 100%.”

The Key Bridge collapsed in the early morning hours of March 26, when the container ship Dali lost power on its way out of the Port of Baltimore and slammed into a bridge tower. The impact caused the center span of the bridge to tumble into the Patapsco River, killing six of the eight workers who were on the bridge at the time and blocking shipping lanes in and out of the port.

Salvage crews, under the direction of federal and state officials, pulled thousands of tons of steel and concrete out of the river, fully reopening the shipping channel into the port by June 11. But Cardin said traffic that would normally use the bridge has been forced to find other ways through Baltimore, causing delays and damaging local roadways that were not designed to handle heavy vehicles.

Within hours of the collapse, President Joe Biden was promising that the federal government would fully fund its replacement, a pledge that was repeated in June by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Both Cardin and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-7th) introduced bills in April calling for full federal funding, but both bills have stalled. The White House also introduced an emergency supplemental appropriations bill last month that asks for $4 billion to fund disaster-relief projects across the country. That bill is pending.

Related stories

• Collapse of Key Bridge reduces tolls by $141 million, hastens likely toll increase
• Biden administration asks for emergency funds for Key Bridge replacement

The state, meanwhile, has put out a fast-track bid for contractors to replace the bridge. Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told the committee Wednesday that the state hopes to award a contract by late summer, with an eye toward reopening the bridge by late 2028.

Wiedefeld and others also noted that the state has “hired a number of attorneys” to seek insurance payments and other reimbursement in the crash. That was echoed by Cardin and Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt, who said the state expects a $350 million insurance claim and the possibility of more from subsequent litigation.

Cardin explained that any money received from insurance or from lawsuits would go back to the federal government.

That got the attention of Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.).

“It sounds like we’re talking about the federal government getting reimbursed for about $700 million and the federal government would pay for about $1 billion under Sen. Cardin’s plan, is that accurate?” Ricketts asked.

Cardin said it was.

“The recoveries all go back to the federal government so the federal government is not going to pay 100%,” Cardin said. “They’re going to get a substantial percentage covered under insurance and third-party recoveries.”

The post Maryland officials renew appeal for full federal funding of Key Bridge appeared first on Maryland Matters .