Governor Hogan Announces Final Federal Approval of Traffic Relief Plan for Capital Beltway and American Legion Bridge

ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today issued the following statement after the state’s Traffic Relief Plan received final approval from the Federal Highway Administration following a series of delays:

“This is a major milestone for the most important transportation project for the National Capital Region in the last 50 years. With the Biden administration’s final approval, we are ready to move forward with this transformative project.

“As I emphasized in my discussions with Secretary Buttigieg, years of federal bureaucratic delays—along with political stall tactics by Montgomery County politicians ignoring the will of their constituents—have significantly increased the costs and hurdles for the project. As a result, we have applied for a federal grant to help in mitigating the costs of these needless delays.

“This interstate project will address one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the country, create more jobs and opportunities, and expand bike, transit, and pedestrian infrastructure. It is exactly the kind of bold and forward-thinking solution that Marylanders have been crying out for, for years if not decades.”