EDGEMERE, Md. —
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox announced a new plan to rebuild the Key Bridge before the end of the decade.
On Tuesday, three weeks before the gubernatorial election, Cox said he met with contractors and has a plan that would accelerate the bridge’s construction into completion.
“Today does mark the 931st day since the collapse,” Cox said at a news event in Sparrows Point. “Marylanders have spent more than two and a half years taking the long way home.”
Currently, crews are driving permanent piles into the riverbed, with the goal to reopen the new bridge by 2030.
“Taxpayers need competition, a reliable price and a schedule that recovers lost time,” Cox added.
The Republican candidate has continued to criticize the state’s timeline, saying he would cut the construction process by half by keeping work moving around the clock.
Cox made a similar campaign promise during last week’s gubernatorial debate.
“I’ll demand enforceable milestones, timely decisions on design questions, incentives for safe early opening, and appropriate consequences for contractor-caused delay,” Cox said Tuesday.
However, the MDTA said it is already doing much of what Cox is promising.
“If he says he can do it in half of that, that would be interesting to see,” MDTA Executive Director Bruce Gartner told WBAL-TV 11 News. “We are not politicizing this project. We’re working on solutions as fast as we can.”
Gartner also said incentives are built into the project and pointed to the state’s decision to split the work into four contracts after parting with the firm selected for the second phase of the project in April.
“I hope he’s sharing this with the teams that are gonna bid on the project, because that’s what this process is set up for,” Gartner said. “It’s to accept all those types of alternatives and the best team will win based not only on the price but in the project delivery and the schedule.”
The governor’s campaign sent a statement to WBAL-TV 11 News, saying:
“We know it’s hard for Dan to understand the challenge of working across the aisle and building a 2-mile-long bridge in record time since he’s only ever passed two bills in the Legislature, but he’s welcome to learn more about the nonstop, around-the-clock progress being made at KeyBridgeRebuild.com. Gov. Moore will remain focused on the bipartisan effort to restore the Key Bridge as quickly, safely and cost effectively as possible and won’t be distracted by Dan’s misinformation.”
MDTA expects work on the land approaches to start in the spring, with the main-span contract to begin later next summer.
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