Del. Maggie McIntosh uses a GBC chart to make a point during the March 5 media briefing. GBC President Donald C. Fry, Baltimore City Mayor Martin O'Malley, Anne Arundel County Executive Janet Owens and Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith look on.

ANNAPOLIS - Reversing an earlier stance, Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced Wednesday that he will include planning and construction of the first phase of a Baltimore regional transit system on a state priority list to be submitted to Congress for federal funding assistance during the next six years.

As recently as last week, the Ehrlich administration was indicating that it did not expect to include a request for regional transit construction funding. However, GBC President Donald C. Fry, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, the region's county executives, Baltimore Delegate Maggie McIntosh, House Speaker Michael Busch and a number of state legislators vigorously urged state transportation officials to make Baltimore area mass transit a priority.

"Congratulations and thanks to Governor Ehrlich and Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan for listening to Baltimore transportation advocates with an open mind and acting decisively to address a compelling need in our region," said the GBC's Fry.

The Baltimore regional transit system was among eight transit projects and 17 highway projects on the administration's priority list, unveiled at a March 13 news conference. The state is requesting $15 million for planning and environmental study of the first phases of the Red Line, from Woodlawn to Fells Point, and the Green Line, which would eventually extend the existing metro line through northeast Baltimore to the White Marsh area.

The state's request is also seeking an additional, yet undetermined, amount for construction of the Red Line.

The state's transit priority list also included a request for $80.4 million to complete double-tracking 9.4 miles of Baltimore's light rail system.

The state's highway priority list is topped by an $800 million request for design and construction of the Intercounty Connector between Montgomery County and the I-95 corridor.

Projects in the Baltimore region on the highway priority list include:

• $134 million to widen the Baltimore Beltway Inner Loop between I-83 and Harford Rd.
  
• $85 million to widen the Baltimore Beltway Outer Loop between Frederick Road and Crosby Road.
  
• $5.5 million for widening York Road between Seminary Ave. and Ridgely Rd.
  
• $12 million to replace the Weems Creek Bridge in Annapolis, and $4 million for projects in the Weems Creek watershed "to mitigate impacts from past roadway development."

To view the Governor's press release on transportation priorities, click here.

To view complete state priority list for transit projects, click here.
To view complete state priority list for highway projects, click here.

For more details on the Baltimore Region Rail Plan, click here.