Evening star., 1953-11-01
Has
Sc Million Start
On Road Project
Figure Moy Reach
$24 Million by
End of the Year
BY the Asseelated Press

bAA11MO1E, OCC. 01.-MdFy-
land has an So million start now
on the 12-year, 1858 million
highway overhaul program it
launched on July /.
BY the end of the year, the
State Roads Commission hopes
to have the figure up to $24 mil
lion.
This will represent a running
start. When "the greatest public
works program in Maryland's
history" was enacted by the Gen
eral Assembly last spring, no one
expected the work to get started
until 1854.
The first project actually is
completed, except for the finish
ing touches. It is the widening
and resurfacing of a seven mile
stretch on Ritchie highway f1om
near the Baltimore City line to-
ward Annapolis.
The contracts have already
been let on 35 more-$8 million
worth.
Plan Subject to Review.
The momentum picks up al
most every week toward the goal
of $50 million worth of road
building a year between now and
1857.
The General Assembly will re-
view the situation then and has
reserved the right to call the
whole thing off if it isn't salts
fled.
If the State completes the
$3.50 million program in 1865, it
will have built 284 miles of new
highway and rebuilt another
3,451 by widening, eliminating
bad curves and cutting off the
tops of hills.
The rebuilding includes adding
a second pair of lanes to exist
ing roads that Maryland will
have 720 miles of dual highway
instead of the 241 it has now.
Roads commission engineers
designed the program to provide
the State with a primary and
secondary road system adequate
to handle the highway traffic
they contemplate by 1865.
Motorists already have started
paying for it.
The States gasoline tax went
up to six cents a gallon, from
five, on July. Half the gas tax
revenue goes to the State Roads
Commission. The other half is
divided between Baltimore and
the % counties.
When Marylanders go to get
their new license plates next
March, they will pay $40 or $50
for passengers cars, depending
on weight, instead of the present
SIS and $23.
The fee for trucks will go up
at about the same ratio.
Sales Tax Unchanged.
The States 2 per cent sales or
titling tax on automobiles will
remain unchanged.
From these sources, financial
experts reckon Maryland will get
$256,634,000 for road building
between now and 1865.
The other $311, 1885 900 for the
$3.50 million program will come
from bond issues, for which the
State will go on paying until
around 1980-depending on f1uc-
tuations in car buying, travel.
construction costs and interest
rates.
It will cost the State about
$105 million over the q years in
finance charges. but this figure
takes into consideration that it
also will be paying off about $76
million out of a 500 million
road bond issue authorized in
1947.
The 12-year program con-
templates issuing $3.50 million in
new bonds, with never more than
$500 million outstanding at any
time.
The advance calculating was
done on the basis of a 2.5 per
cent interest rate. The State
floated one part of the 1947 is
sue for LAT per cent, but by the
time it sold the final portion
few weeks ago the rate was up
to .2.58 per cent.
It has not sold any bonds yet
under the new program. The
financing cost may go up.
without State Credit.
Balanced against this possibil-
ity is the fact the first SO con-
struction contracts awarded
were at prices somewhat less
than contemplated when advance
estimates were made.
The financing is under an ar
rangement by which the roads
commission is authorized to issue
bonds without the general credit
of the State being pledged
against them.
The only security the bond
holders have Is a guarantee that
money coming from the gasoline
tax and the 2 per cent sales or
titling tax on cars is dedicated
first toward paying off bonds.
If the time should ever come
that this is not enough. the
State would not have to increase
other taxes in order to meet the
payments.
No referendum was required
for the road bond issues. The
ceiling on them is what the Leg
iSlature sets.
Maryland's General Assembly
put only a slight crimp in the
proposed 12-year program when
it came up for approval at the
1858 session.
Accounting Demanded.