A long-term vision of the Baltimore region has mass transit expanding its reach, ferries connecting communities on the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore’s port taking on a key role in U.S. container shipping, all goals toward becoming a competitive hub for moving cargo and people.
During an “economic opportunity” summit held Tuesday, Baltimore business leaders explored ways to boost growth by attracting investment in logistics infrastructure, transit and livability.
Reaching such goals is possible, participants at the Greater Baltimore Committee event said, even as the state faces budget constraints and federal funding cuts. Speakers said the local business community will need to get on board to push such plans and seek new ways to fund projects.
The group held its event as Maryland faces a projected $1.4 billion budget deficit for fiscal year 2027, a reversal from the $140 million surplus expected earlier this year. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has ruled out tax increases.
Even amid challenges, a slate of people or cargo moving projects are in various stages of planning in the region, including the planned $1 billion Sparrows Point container ship terminal at Baltimore County’s Tradepoint Atlantic, which is moving toward final federal permit approval.
And at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, projects such as concourse connectors, baggage handling upgrades and a new air traffic control tower in the early design stage should help airlines expand capacity, for passengers, below-belly cargo and freighters, said Niqui Clark, deputy chief engineer for the Maryland Aviation Administration. The state also will consider a 500-acre airport site for expansion.
Challenges in infrastructure projects tend to be similar across transportation, housing and energy systems, said Katie Parks, director of community development for Maryland Economic Development Corp., or MEDCO. MEDCO issued more than $1 billion in financing last year through tax increment financing and secure bond issuance for the private sector, universities and nonprofits, she said.
Challenges include “budget constraints, local, county, state and federal,” Parks said. “Infrastructure projects tend to have massive upfront capital costs, and they can take a long time to start generating returns.”
“We’re seeing limited local capacity to manage very complex projects,” she said. And “We’re definitely seeing issues around bureaucratic and regulatory challenges.”
Solutions, she said, include greater reliance on public-private partnerships.
“It’s speeding up delivery, it’s reducing costs, and it’s allowing us to bring Innovative solutions in by bringing together many different partners that have different perspectives and can benefit long-term from their investments,” she said. “We really have to look at all the options.”
Efforts to attract investment are coming at a time when the federal Highway Trust Fund has decreased, future funding is uncertain, and the Trump administration is looking to reduce public transportation spending.
In Maryland, the state transportation budget has been cut each of the past two years, but in September, state officials proposed $300 million in spending that would boost investments in public transit, highways and the port, made possible by more than $400 million in new or higher state fees.
“I don’t think there could be a more prescient time to set a vision for the future,” Senate President Bill Ferguson said in kicking off Tuesday’s summit. “We are in exceedingly challenging times. People are more divided than ever. Economic and societal struggles are forcing families and businesses to scale back and retrench.”
People are worried that the American dream may no longer be in reach, he said.
“I do not believe that to be true,” Ferguson said. “We need to chart a different path, not go back or just go forward but to find something different that allows us to row with the tide in a new way.”
The GBC on Tuesday also identified legislative priorities for the upcoming General Assembly session, such as modernizing the Baltimore Convention Center and funding a multi-billion-dollar city plan to revitalize downtown, a 10-year initiative known as “Downtown RISE” that aims to make downtown more walkable and welcoming by improving and adding housing, restaurants, retailers and public gathering spots.
In addition, the business group plans to lobby for the continued advancement of the multibillion-dollar east-west Red Line transit project in Baltimore.
“We obviously want to make sure that the Red Line moves forward, and that we develop a practical path to make sure 10 years from now people aren’t still talking about this as a vision,” Mark Anthony Thomas, GBC president and CEO, said during the event at Camden Yards Warehouse.
“We’ll also push for more transit-oriented development,” he said. “That is something that Maryland has lagged behind other states, and it’s a tremendous opportunity to address our housing and development crisis issues.”
Other transportation projects in the works include the Maryland Transit Administration’s initiative to modernize Baltimore’s Central Light Rail Line, a more than $1 billion investment to replace light rail cars, signal systems, stations, track and maintenance facilities.
Light rail cars will be replaced using funding from a 2024 federal grant, while the state’s 2025 transportation budget covers overall modernization. No major investments have been made in the system since the early 2000s.
“This is an opportunity for us,” Holly Arnold, MTA administrator, told summit attendees Tuesday. “How do we make this system live up to the promises that were envisioned when the investment was made to get it open,” in 1992, for the first game at then newly-opened Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Another project, the Chesapeake Bay Passenger Ferry, remains in the study stage. A feasibility study completed in August 2024 identified possible routes linking 21 host communities on the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay.
Before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened in 1952, about 10,000 people at the height of service rode bay ferries, said Kristen Pironis, executive director of Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County.
“It shaped commerce, it shaped quality of life, and it absolutely shaped the way people saw the bay,” Pironis said Tuesday. “What we found in recent decades is people and communities have absolutely lost access to the bay. It’s not just the recreation that they’ve lost. They’ve lost that economic opportunity. ”
Pironis said Anne Arundel is working with Queen Anne’s, Calvert, Somerset and St. Mary’s counties on the plan.
“We imagine something really bold, bringing the ferry system back to really focus on that visitor experience and quality of life for our residents,” she said.
Initial conversations on funding have begun, she said.
“None of this is going to happen without funding,” she said. “It’s not an inexpensive concept.”
Have a news tip? Contact Lorraine Mirabella at lmirabella@baltsun.com and (410) 332-6672.
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