Baltimore County identified the Dolefield Boulevard interchange at I-795 as its top long-term transportation priority and thanked the state for design funding, while the Maryland State Highway Administration described a suite of projects to address congestion on I-695 and aging bridges.

Sameer Sid said Dolefield had been the county’s No. 1 priority since requests dating to 2007, and that renewed design funding has committed resources through the project design phase. "Once completed, this project will save drivers more than 5 minutes going southbound and more than 12 minutes going northbound," Sid said, adding the county expects to save residents "over 2,100 hours each day" collectively.

State Highway Administrator Will Pines said SHA is advancing design for an interchange at I-795 and Dolefield and has completed design for ramps to the ETL project on the northern side of I-695. SHA also reported a $42.3 million rehabilitation of 10 bridges at the I-95/I-695 interchange completed two months ahead of schedule and noted a project to replace the 65-year-old Puddihill Avenue bridge with construction anticipated to start in 2027.

Pines described the statewide Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) initiative, which is creating temporary median shoulder lanes for peak use on congested corridors and is expected to remove several top bottlenecks on the Beltway. "That project will remove 9 of the state's 15 top bottlenecks on the Beltway," Pines said.

Senators and delegates from the delegation and county council members raised the "triple bridges" bottleneck on I-695 and local pollution and congestion concerns; SHA said a bridge painting project is planned to extend service life but that the bridges are rated in fair condition and do not currently require replacement based solely on condition.

County and SHA officials committed to continued coordination on designs, grant applications, and construction scheduling for Dolefield and related Beltway improvements.