Published: September 16, 2009 08:32 pm      

Thanks

O’Malley backs funds for Route

Gov. Martin O’Malley has delivered on his pledge to keep the north-south highway in Western Maryland on the front-burner.

On Tuesday, the governor announced the state has restored its $750,000 share of funding for a joint study with West Virginia of improvements along U.S. Route 220.

The state deferred its commitment to the study last year due to the impact of the recent economic downturn. Now, with savings generated by healthy competition for transportation projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the money has been identified to restore Maryland’s share and allow the study to continue.

“These tough economic times have presented many challenges to us as a state,” said O’Malley. “However, when possible, it is important to keep our planning efforts alive so that we are prepared for the future. The competition for ARRA contracts produced some savings that will allow us to get the U.S. 220 study back on track.”

Construction of a north-south highway has long been viewed as a vital part of this region’s economic future. The Greater Cumberland Committee, in particular, has been pushing hard to see that the project stays alive.

Eighty business leaders, civic organizations and elected officials in Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania have banded together to form the NorthSouth Appalachia Highway Coalition Partners.

With the governor’s decision to restore the funding, the project is now essentially back to where it was in December of 2008, when Maryland was ready to complete the Route 220 draft environmental impact statement that it had been working on with West Virginia.

The study being conducted jointly with the West Virginia Division of Highways will evaluate the feasibility of five options that are intended to increase traffic capacity and facilitate economic growth between Interstate 68 in Allegany County and the town of Scherr in Grant County, W.Va.

The next step will be to develop a complete environmental and engineering analysis required for federal approval of the project.

We applaud Gov. O’Malley for restoring money for the highway project. As we said in a previous editorial, the governor has visited Western Maryland many times and knows the economic challenges of the area and the importance a north-south highway can play in the future.