Bonds Likely for Key Bridge Rebuild, Maryland Official Says
Cost of Rebuilding Bridge Has more Than Doubled, With an Anticipated Opening Date in Late 2030, 2 Years Behind Schedule
Key Takeaways:
- Maryland plans to issue bonds over five years to finance rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge, expecting later federal reimbursement, transportation officials said.
- Rebuild costs have risen to $4.3 billion to $5.2 billion from about $2 billion due to sturdier pier protection, a larger span, inflation and market conditions, pushing completion to late 2030.
- Federal funding faces uncertainty after President Donald Trump questioned prior commitments, with Gov. Wes Moore to meet U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to discuss costs and timelines.
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Maryland officials anticipate issuing bonds to help finance the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed in 2024 and disrupted a major economic gateway.
“We envision that we will be floating bonds to fund the bridge over the course of the five-year period and reimbursements to follow from the federal government since we can’t count on those coming in the day that the funding is needed,” Bruce Gartner, executive director of the Maryland Transportation Authority, said during a Dec. 16 community meeting hosted by the agency. “We’d have some borrowing costs associated with the rebuild.”
The federal government — under the Biden administration — had previously committed to cover the full cost of rebuilding the bridge. But President Donald Trump, who has been scrutinizing federal funding for transportation projects since he took office this year, said in asocial mediapost in August that he might have to reconsider the bridge funding.
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The steel truss bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River in March 2024 when a containership lost power and slammed into one of the main support piers around 1:30 in the morning, killing six night-shift workers who were on the bridge filling potholes. It was a vital part of the transportation link into Baltimore harbor.
Since then, the cost of rebuilding the bridge has more than doubled to $4.3 billion to $5.2 billion, with an anticipated open-to-traffic date in late 2030, two years behind schedule. The original price tag was estimated at around $2 billion, with a completion date of 2028.
State transportation officials have said that sturdier pier protection, a higher and longer main span to meet Coast Guard guidelines and volatile market conditions for construction caused the price to swell from initial estimates made in the first few weeks following the disaster. The overall span will be larger than the original bridge to accommodate increased marine traffic and updated safety guidelines.
“We factored in some inflation to the project, but in the dynamic market we’re in today, that continues to be a cost driver for our project,” Gartner said.
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy plans to meet Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in the coming weeks to discuss several transportation projects, including the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The meeting comes after Duffy sent a letter in September warning Moore about the increased costs and timeline of the rebuild. In the letter, Duffy wrote that “any reliance on race- or sex-conscious factors in contracting decisions could introduce significant legal vulnerabilities and inefficiencies in the management of the project.”
“We do really want to continue to partner with them,” Gartner said. “It is in federal law about the funding for the Key Bridge, so we will continue to meet with the federal government to keep the dialogue open and have them understand the costs associated with this rebuild.”
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