MDTA announces public-private partnership to redevelop & operate I-95 Travel Plazas
Agreement to bring more than $400 million in revenue to State; Construction to create estimated 400 jobs for Marylanders
The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Board today voted to approve an innovative 35-year agreement with Areas USA MDTP, LLC, to redevelop and operate the two aging travel plazas along the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (I-95) in northeast Maryland. The agreement is the State's newest public-private partnership (P3) following the award-winning P3 agreement with a private partner to improve and operate Seagirt Marine Terminal at the Port of Baltimore.
Pending Board of Public Works approval, as well as a 30-day review by the Maryland General Assembly, Areas USA will invest $56 million to redesign and rebuild both the 48-year-old Maryland House and 36-year-old Chesapeake House travel plazas and will operate and maintain the plazas through 2047. The State retains ownership and oversight of the travel plazas, while receiving revenue over the course of the agreement estimated at more than $400 million.
"By joining forces with the private sector we can generate the type of investment needed in these tough economic times that will allow us to build the infrastructure we need and create jobs," said MDTA Board Member Mary Beyer Halsey, co-chair of the committee overseeing the P3 travel plaza initiative. "In this case, the agreement to rebuild the travel plazas will bring an estimated 400 construction jobs to our State. This is the type of leading-edge concept that the MDTA must pursue as we face the challenges posed by operating and maintaining our eight toll facilities across the State."
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View the Chesapeake House renderings  |
View the Maryland House renderings |
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| Renderings courtesy of Ayers Saint Gross Architects |
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