The state will begin construction on 15 highway projects in Baltimore County in the next fiscal year - including the long-awaited extension of White Marsh Boulevard - Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari has informed county officials.

The projects are part of the state Department of Transportation's six-year, $722.9 million budget for the county, which Pocari reviewed with officials at a recent meeting.

One project not on the list, however, is construction of an interchange at Dolfield Boulevard and Interstate 795. County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger called it the county's top priority.

"If you build it, they will come," Ruppersberger said to Porcari during the annual meeting on transportation projects with state officials Friday.

Ruppersberger said that the interchange would help develop the Owings Mills area and relieve development pressure in other parts of the county, thereby preserving open space.

County officials say that the nearby Owings Mills Boulevard interchange is overloaded and will become more congested as the state and county develop a town center at the Owings Mills Metro station. Traffic problems will jeopardize residential and commercial development at the site, they warn.

White Marsh Boulevard - also known as Route 43 - will be extended from White Marsh Mall to Eastern Boulevard, near Martin State Airport.

The county estimates that the extension will spark commercial and residential development along the highway, bringing 10,000 new jobs and up to $460 million in private investment for the county's east side, a region that is showing signs of life after years of steady economic and social decline.

Among other projects scheduled to start in the next year is reconstruction of the Baltimore Beltway interchange at York Road in Towson.

The funding earmarked for Baltimore County projects makes up 12 percent of the $8.5 billion statewide budget for the next six years. "Baltimore County has been very, very successful getting transportation projects, ... but there are limits to what we can do," Porcari said after the meeting.

Porcari acknowledged that the state's projected $1.7 billion deficit might have some effect on the department, but added that most projects are paid for by the Transportation Trust Fund, which operates independently of the state's general fund. Only 1 percent of the department's budget comes from general fund transfers.

The Department of Transportataion revises its six-year plan every year, and presents the revision to the counties, which offer feedback before the plan goes before the General Assembly in the next legislative session.