The Maryland Dept. of Transportation will have to reconsider a protest lodged by the losing bidder for the initial phase of its $9-billion Express Lanes project, according to a Feb. 17 state circuit court judge's ruing. The decision likely stalls the state's ambitious plan to add capacity along portions of the I-495/Beltway and I-270 west of Washington, DC, using a progressive public-partnership.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge John M. Maloney largely rejected the agency's assertion that the project’s losing bid team—Capital Express Mobility Partners, led by Ferrovial-owned infrastructure developer Cintra—had missed stated deadlines to protest the state's February 2021 selection of Transurban/Macquarie Infrastructure-led Accelerate Maryland Partners for the project’s predevelopment phase.

在考虑该项目的三个提案中，Cintra领导的一项提案获得了最高的技术评级和最低的财务评分。

Conversely, Transurban/Macquarie received the highest financial score and a “Good” technical score.

Cintra团队认为，在2020年7月合同入围后不久，原始团队承包商Archer Western退出后，Transurban/Macquarie不应被允许替换为首席承包商。

Cintra also claimed that the Transurban/Macquarie bid was based on unreasonably low assumptions for construction costs, and that absent a lead contractor, it would be unable “to identify and mitigate construction risks until it is too late,” according to protest documents. As such, Cintra sought to either disqualify the Transurban/Macquarie team or reopen the bid process.

Although MDOT has given other reasons for twice rejecting Cintra’s arguments, Maloney’s decision means the agency must now reconsider them unless either side chooses to appeal. Cintra’s attorneys have stated publicly that they expect the protest to be rejected yet again, potentially setting the stage for a broader lawsuit against the state agency.

该机构的官员尚未发表评论。

同样不确定的是MDOT与Transurban/Macquarie的七个月大合同的命运，其中包括谈判该项目的数十亿美元建设合同和50年的运营/维护优惠的专有权。据报道，该团队正在选择新承包商以自费进行设计工作时选择新承包商。

The controversy comes as Maryland looks to resume full-scale construction work on another controversial transportation P3—the half-built $3.4 billion Purple Line light-rail system, which has been mired in delays and cost overruns that led to the acrimonious departure of the original design-build team.

A recently state-approved contract between Purple Line Transit Partners, the private consortium managing the Purple Line for MDOT, and the U.S. branches of Spanish builders Dragados and OHL calls for the project to be completed by fall 2026 at a cost that is $1.4 billion more than originally budgeted.