WASHINGTON -- The long-awaited widening of a congested stretch of the Baltimore Beltway is set to begin this summer, thanks to a new federal program that will free money for road construction in Maryland and 20 other states.
The work on Interstate 695, in the planning stage for 10 years, will add one lane in each direction to a four-mile section of the Beltway between Reisterstown Road and Interstate 83 South.
The federal initiative, announced this week, will also help the state pay for two other projects: improvements to the interchange of Interstates 70 and 270 near Frederick, and widening of Route 355 (Frederick Avenue) in Montgomery County.
The money earmarked for Maryland comes after lobbying by members of the state's delegation to Congress, particularly Sens. Paul S. Sarbanes and Barbara A. Mikulski and Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin.
The Beltway widening "is the No. 1 highway priority from the regional standpoint," Craig Forrest, transportation coordinator for Baltimore County, said yesterday. "There is so much congestion in that area of the Beltway" that backups often spill over onto local roads as commuters search for alternate routes, he said.
Mr. Forrest said the rising traffic and lengthy delays stem from an increase in the number of suburb-to-suburb commuters. "The Beltway is Baltimore County's Main Street," he said. "There isn't a good cross-county highway other than the Beltway."
"People who used to leave at 7:30 in the morning are now leaving at 7 to avoid the congestion," he said. For his own commute, Mr. Forrest said, he's given up on the Beltway, using local roads instead to get from his home in Harford County to his Towson office.
The $50 million federally funded project is expected to last three years. It marks the first step in what is envisioned as a long-term plan to widen the entire Beltway in the face of steadily increasing traffic. That work is expected to cost more than $400 million, although it is not clear how long it would take.
"This is the first step, the first segment to be widened," said Liz Kalinowski, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Highway Administration. "We expect it will provide immediate relief for the congestion.
"Does that mean it could become congested again at some point down the road? Sure it will. We just don't know when."
Each day, 160,000 vehicles use the soon-to-be-widened section of the Baltimore Beltway on average, making it the second-busiest stretch of the highway, after the area between Interstates 70 and 95.
But Ms. Kalinowski said the highway administration does not expect the construction to seriously aggravate the delays, because most of the work will be done during nonpeak times in the day or at night.
As part of the project, the state plans to spend $5 million to build sound barriers along the newly widened stretch, a demand of nearby residents.
The targeted area is in the congressional district of Mr. Cardin, who has been urging the state to reduce noise from the highway by building the barriers.
"Widening the road is an important project," Mr. Cardin said. "But it needs to be weighed against the cost to the community. It's very important to mitigate the noise impact on the community. This is a key ingredient in going forward."
"It's extraordinarily loud," said Stefan Luger of Pikesville who lives within 60 feet of the Beltway. "You can't have a barbecue or a normal conversation outside because of noise from the road. It's deafening."
Mr. Cardin plans to meet later this month with state highway officials to underscore the need for sound barriers.
For a second Maryland project, near Frederick, the state will use the newly available federal money to secure land for work on the interchange of Interstates 70 and 270, widening the road and making it easier to make connections between the two highways. No start-up date has been set.
Finally, in Montgomery County, the state plans to spend $27 million to widen Frederick Avenue between Middlebrook Road and Route 124. Work is expected to begin next year.
The three projects in Maryland and 32 other transportation projects across the county were announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico F. Pena at a news conference this week.
No new money is being appropriated for the $2 billion in nationwide projects announced this week. But states will now be able to use the federal money when they first start receiving it, rather than having to wait years for Washington's payment in full.