Maryland is shifting gears with its plan to add high occupancy toll (HOT) managed toll lanes to key Washington, DC-area highways, announcing on May 11 it would shed most of that planned expansion on the controversial I-495/Capital Beltway segment. The state Dept. of Transportation will now focus its public-private partnership arrangement on a new Potomac River crossing for the Beltway and HOT lanes added just to a 9.3-mile segment of I-270.

该机构仍然计划以P3的身份交付该项目，尽管最终确定初始开发阶段的合同仍在停滞不前bid protest that has not completed its process.

The state's Managed Lanes Study originally encompassed nearly all of the 42-mile stretch of the Beltway, Washington’s perimeter highway, under a multi-billion plan championed by Gov. Larry Hogan (R) that was roundly criticized for its potential effects on adjacent development and the environment.

“我们的意图正在向前发展，”霍根说，他是任期限制的，必须在2023年1月上任。

Under the new recommended preferred alternative, the state DOT will suspend planning for the Beltway’s northern and eastern sections, retaining a six-mile segment between the proposed new Potomac River bridge, which will connect with Virginia’s HOT lanes, and the I-270 spur routes.

该机构在一份声明中说，该决定是由“持续合作和倾听代理合作伙伴，公职人员和利益相关者的几个月”以及联邦和州运输机构的。

A supplemental draft environmental impact statement will be issued for comment this summer.

马里兰州DOT表示，这种变化对其50年的渐进P3结构没有影响，以设计，建造，操作和维护托管热道。尽管它在2月中旬将发展阶段合同授予了一支由跨城市 - 马卡里领导的团队，但随后由Ferrovial拥有的基础设施开发人员Cintra提出的抗议活动使该州无法继续进行工作。

一位机构发言人说，抗议活动最初被州官员拒绝，现在等待马里兰州运输部长格雷戈里·斯莱特（Gregory Slater）的决定。根据结果​​，它可以在州法院降落。

Transurban-Macquarie还没有宣布替代其原始的首席承包商Archer Western，该公司去年被入选该项目后离开了该团队。

Meanwhile, Maryland’s other controversial transportation P3—the 16-mile Purple Line light rail line across suburban Montgomery and Prince George's counties—scored a legal victory on May 13 when a federal appeals court unanimously rejected a challenge to the project’s compliance with federal Clean Water Act wetlands protections.

法院裁定，美国陆军工程兵团允许承包商允许承包商排放疏ge，并填充湿地和水道，并且该机构对其他较小的破坏性选择进行了充分考虑，以改善华盛顿北部郊区的流动性。

With the ruling, the $2 billion project is free of pending legal action for the first time since 2014.

开发人员子午线和明星erica are now in process to select a new lead contractor to replace荧光企业., which departed the project last year after settling its own contentious court battle with Maryland transportation officials over project delay costs.

三支球队have been shortlisted to present formal proposals to take on the job.

Construction on the half-finished Purple Line, already delayed by two years, is scheduled to ramp up this fall.