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MDTA warns of fiscal strain from Key Bridge reconstruction; systemwide tolls eyed for 2028
Summary
Maryland Transportation Authority officials told the House Appropriations subcommittee that reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge dominates their capital program, pushing debt and cash-flow needs that make a systemwide toll increase likely in fiscal 2028; officials outlined collection and reciprocity steps to recover outstanding toll debt.
Maryland Transportation Authority leaders told the House Appropriations Committee's Transportation and Environment Subcommittee that reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge accounts for more than half of MDTA's six-year capital program and is driving a step-up in borrowing and near-term cash needs that make a systemwide toll increase likely by fiscal 2028.
"We are looking at a 2028 toll increase," Bruce Gartner, executive director of MDTA, said, citing the agency's projection that debt issuances will exceed $3 billion through 2031 and that key financial metrics are projected to decline in the out-years. Sam Quist, the legislature's budget analyst, told the panel the debt-service coverage ratio is projected…
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