BALTIMORE — Maryland lawmakers blasted the latest Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild projections Tuesday, after transportation officials revealed the estimates have nearly tripled since last spring and the timeline has been delayed to late 2030.

The original budget for the Key Bridge rebuild, now between $4.3 and $5.2 billion, was between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion, and the open-to-traffic date was 2028. The initial estimate and preliminary plan were formed and released two weeks after the bridge’s collapse in March 2024, when the container ship Dali lost power and slammed into a main support pier. The collapse killed six construction workers who were doing repairs on the bridge.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, defended the updated numbers in a statement Monday night, saying the initial estimates were issued “less than two weeks after the initial crash and before any engineering or design studies were conducted.” He added rising material costs, “deteriorating” national economic conditions and federally mandated design and resilience standards — “not discretionary state choices” — have driven up the cost, blaming the “trade policies out of Washington.”

Moore also attributed some blame to rising national costs out of Washington on essential materials. In Washington, Rep. Andy Harris wasn’t buying it. “That’s bulls–,” Harris, an Eastern Shore Republican, told The Baltimore Sun Tuesday.

“This is a 100% cost overruns,” Harris added. “There is no 100 percent tariff on anything.”

Harris said he was not comfortable with the estimate, adding that Moore needed to explain how and why the cost doubled.

“Governor IDGAF has to explain how his administration got this wrong by 100%,” Harris said, alleging that the lower original estimate was made so that the federal government would agree to pay.

Federal funding for the new bridge was passed in December of last year in bipartisan fashion. Since taking office, President Donald Trump and his administration have questioned aspects of the bridge’s construction.

Harris said the new estimate could further sway the administration against the project.

“The administration in the end has discretion,” Harris said. “I think they’re going to decide that they were misled intentionally on this. And I think it’s going to be a concern for Maryland.”

Rep. Johnny Olszewski, a Baltimore County Democrat whose district includes the bridge site, spoke with the governor prior to the new estimate being announced. He told The Sun Tuesday that he encouraged Moore to consider issuing a state of emergency to bolster the project.

“Very concerned about cost escalation, especially ones of that magnitude,” Olszewski said. “Everything has to be on the table in terms of making this project more affordable, for getting it done faster.”

Olszewski said he asked for and expects a briefing on the causes of the increase. He emphasized the need for transparency, both for the public and for the Trump administration, given its unease with the project, floating a potential line item budget to gauge where and how costs spiked.

“Every day is another day that 35,000 residents and businesses that rely on that crossing are impacted,” Olszewski said. “There needs to be a real sense of urgency getting this done as quickly as possible and inexpensively as possible.”

House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy, a Republican representing Frederick County, sharply criticized the Moore administration’s handling of the project, saying the jump from the earlier $1.7 billion projection raises serious concerns. He also rejected the governor’s explanation that federal policy changes contributed to the spike.

“There’s no way that the cost triples in one year because of anything other than a false, incorrect, inaccurate estimate,” he told The Sun, likening the situation to recent concerns about state highway project billing. “It’s more disappointment, more mismanagement, and likely more costs to the taxpayer.”

Del. Mark Fisher, a Calvert County Republican, offered a broader critique of the administration, saying “Governor Moore gives vacuous speeches, pretending he’s President of the United States,” Fisher said. “Soaring electricity prices, payment plans for car registration fees, higher taxes and a perennial budget deficit are his legacy. The Key Bridge is a metaphor of his leadership.”

Del. LaToya Nkongolo, a Republican representing Anne Arundel County, questioned how the Moore administration could fall behind schedule and miss the rebuild costs. “The collapse of the original 2028 timeline has real consequences,” Nkongolo told the Sun Tuesday. “Businesses that rely on bridge-related commerce are facing prolonged economic hardship, and residents are enduring increased congestion, longer commutes, and a significant decline in their overall quality of life. Our constituents deserve better accountability, better planning, and better leadership.”

Rep. Johnny Salling, a Republican representing Baltimore County, referenced the upcoming 2026 Legislative Session and urged the Moore administration to consider the $1.4 billion deficit.

“Our hard-working taxpayers should not have to pay more taxes and/or fees to cover the costs of rebuilding the Key Bridge,” Salling told The Sun. “I hope that Governor Moore and his Administration will work with our partners at the Federal level to share the financial responsibility of this important project.”

Nick Allen, a Democrat representing Baltimore County, said he is “disappointed” by the new projections but believes that they will ensure long-term reliability.

“This directly impacts thousands of my constituents, especially those that commute, and especially those who work at the Port of Baltimore and the surrounding areas, which are some of the biggest employers in eastern Baltimore County,” Allen said. “That being said, we are building a bridge that needs to stand and serve us for the next century, so I appreciate the diligence and emphasis that is placed on doing things the right way, the best way.”

Moore said his team will continue to provide real-time travel updates to keep Marylanders informed as construction progresses and “work with the Trump administration” to control costs and rebuild more quickly.

Clearer numbers

Much like Gov. Wes Moore’s statement Monday night, the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) attributes the increase in costs to repair the Key Bridge to a volatile economy. However, the MDTA also insists, the 2024 estimates were just preliminary and had to be calculated for Maryland to qualify for emergency relief from the federal government.

MDTA Executive Director Bruce Gartner told the Sun Tuesday that original estimates to repair the bridge were calculated without “any engineering or design.” Now the MDTA is approaching “70% design,” Gartner said, thanks to “numerous…engineering calculations on bridge standards for vessel protection” that have provided his department with a clearer picture of “the conditions in the riverbed.”

“All we could do in those initial days was look at other bridges of a similar size and then work — since bringing a design builder on board, a progressive design builder on board — to further that engineering along to where we are now,” Gartner said in a phone interview with The Baltimore Sun.

Gartner added that Maryland’s progress in rebuilding the bridge outpaces other states in similar situations. “There’s bridges out there over the Mobile River in Alabama, the Brent Spence between Kentucky and Ohio — big bridge projects that are experiencing similar things, but they’ve taken years and years to design,” he said. “We’ve designed over the last 14 months.”

Looking to the future, Gartner said the agency will work with independent cost estimators, consultants and the state’s contractor to ensure costs don’t mount between now and 2030, when bridge repairs are meant to be completed. When asked about Trump’s threa t to withhold federal dollars from the project, Gartner said the MDTA will engage with them.

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—Reporter Tinashe Chingarande contributed to this story.

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