Sec. Duffy and Gov. Moore building bridges

A squabble between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the state of Maryland appears to be moving towards a resolution which effects two major bridges in the Washington D.C. ? Baltimore region.

"We all agree that building great, big, things shouldn't be impossible in America," said DOT Secretary Sean Duffy and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in a joint statement.

"During today's meeting, we made significant progress. We agreed to accelerate the reconstruction of both the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the American Legion bridge."

The statement marks a turning point in the contentious relationship between the federal government and Maryland rooted in politics and federal job loss that's impacting the states neighboring Washington D.C.

The tolled Key Bridge in Baltimore harbor was destroyed when a disabled container ship crashed into it in March 2024 claiming six lives.

The Biden administration originally promised the federal government would pay to rebuild the bridge.

As repair cost estimates escalated to $5.2 billion from $1.9 billion the Trump administration questioned the figures and alluded to rethinking its position on funding the rebuild.

The joint statement also alludes to who is paying for the repairs saying, "We also made significant progress on cost sharing to ensure fairness."

The toll bridge was financed by a $220 million revenue bond issuance in 1968, with its revenue directed into Maryland coffers.

According to the Maryland Transportation Authority, as of December 2025, the design work for the new bridge is 70% complete.

Rebuilding the American Legion Memorial Bridge, which connects suburban Maryland to Northern Virginia just Northwest of the Washington D.C. border appears to be the key bargaining chip in the arrangement.

The bridge opened in 1962 and now carries 10-lanes of traffic across the Potomac River via Interstate 495, also known as the Capital Beltway.

In 2017 Maryland's Republican Governor Larry Hogan announced plans to widen the Capital Beltway while adding toll-funded express lanes funded through a public-private partnership.

The project has been idling since 2023 as environmental impact questions about the project arose and Maryland changed governors and. Momentum for restarting the process is building.

"Specifically for the American Legion bridge, we agreed about the need to speed up the reconstruction and leverage innovative approaches like a public private partnership that will ensure Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. commuters can soon experience some much needed traffic relief from the most congested corridor in America," said Moore and Duffy.

In December 2025, Duffy filed a "Request of Information," through the Federal Highway Administration asking for "public input and proposals on innovative project delivery methods to ensure cost-effective and efficient reconstruction of the American Legion Memorial Bridge."

In 2019, Virginia and Maryland agreed to partner up on rebuilding the bridge with Virginia offering to help pay for the rebuild even though most of the bridge is technically on the Maryland side of the border.

The plans called for eight free lanes, and four express lanes in each direction that would feature congestion pricing.