Maryland board approves first contract to design toll lanes for Beltway, I-270

The first contract for companies to design billions of dollars worth of toll lanes for Interstate 270 and part of the Capital Beltway won approval Wednesday from a Maryland board, marking the start of the state’s largest project aimed at relieving traffic congestion. The Board of Public Works — composed of the governor, comptroller and treasurer — voted 2 to 1 to approve a “predevelopment agreement” with Australian firms Transurban and Macquarie to plan the lanes at their own expense.