The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: What's In It For Baltimore County?

BALTIMORE COUNTY - As President Biden tours the country ahead of the 2024 election, he has touted funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), signed in November 2021.

"the bipartisan infrastructure law is making transformative investments in Maryland and around the country," Sen Ben Cardin said in a statement. "We are seeing the impact today from the earliest federal funding to be awarded on a competitive basis or apportioned through formula funding, and this process will continue in the years to come."

So far, the White House has announced funding for 25,000 projects across the country, including hundreds in Maryland. Baltimore County, Maryland's third largest jurisdiction by population, has received $55.2 million from the BIL, second only to Prince Georges's County.

$55.2 million is a lot of money; here is how it will be spent in Baltimore County.

The Maryland Department of Transportation received the lion's share of federal funding and plans to spend it on various resurfacing and maintenance projects for Baltimore County Roads. In total, MDOT received ~$54 million for projects in the county, including:

Resurfacing Baltimore County roads:

• $158,441 to resurface roads on MD 372 from I-695 to the Baltimore City line.
• $209,327 to resurface roads on MD 319 (Charles Street) from Bellona Ave. to the Baltimore City line.
• $2,833,010 for resurfacing projects at "various locations east of 1-83 in Baltimore County."
• $2,363,866 for resurfacing projects at "various locations west of 1-83 in Baltimore County."

Bridge renovation projects:

• $117,600 to paint and clean bridges on the Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway and Harford Road
• $845,000 to paint and clean bridges on "various routes in Baltimore County."
• $4,000,000 to install latex-modified concrete overlays on ten bridges at the I-95/I-695 interchange.

Transportation Systems Operations Management (TSMO) Funding (funding to optimize efficiency on existing roads).

• $14,102,016 for TSMO upgrades to I-695 from I-70 to MD 43

Although MDOT will distribute the vast majority of Maryland's BIL funding, two other Baltimore County projects received over $1 million in total funding.

• $763,000 to upgrade infrastructure at Martin State Airport.
• $197,000 was provided to the Community College of Baltimore County to help increase access to commercial driver licenses (CDLs) for former U.S. Armed Forces members and those from underserved communities.

Other Maryland-specific spending includes:

• • $144 million for clean water projects, including replacing lead pipes
• • $25 million for improvements to Baltimore Washington International Airport
• • $84 million in Chesapeake Bay ecosystem restoration
• • $65 million to upgrade the energy grid, expand clean-energy technologies and weatherize homes
• • $22.7 million to install electric vehicle charging stations around the state
• • $4.8 million for ports and waterways projects
• • $4.8 million to cap old oil and gas wells
• • $500,000 to clean up Superfund and brownfield sites