Maryland’s Board of Public Works voted 2-1 on Wednesday to approve a $50 million public-private partnership for a controversial toll lane project, even before the project has been formally approved and gone through all its reviews.

The pre-development contract is with Accelerate Maryland Partners, a consortium including international toll-road operator Transurban, which operates some Virginia toll lanes, and Macquarie Capital.

The board approved two contracts: One for $50 million so the consortium can begin planning and designing the project, and another contract locking the state and Accelerate Maryland Partners into a 50-year lease that would allow AMP to run the toll lanes and collect the profits.

The $6 billion toll lane project, if approved, would rebuild the American Legion Bridge, adding four high occupancy toll lanes for about 15 miles from the bridge to the I-270 interchange and up north to I-370 near Gaithersburg. It would also add toll lanes to a few spurs going east at the I-495/270 interchange. Most of the lanes would be built by repurposing current lanes. A later phase could add 21 miles of toll lanes on I-270 from I-370 to I-70 near Frederick. Single-occupancy vehicles would pay a variable toll to use the lanes, while carpoolers with three people and mass transit could use the lanes for free. This new network would tie into existing toll lanes in Virginia.

According to advocates, the controversial plan aims to address some of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the region.

Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) voted in favor.

“We are advancing one of the most significant infrastructure projects of the last 50 years, and one of the largest public-private partnerships in the world,” Hogan said in a statement. “This Traffic Relief Plan is a win for families, commuters, and small businesses. It will finally begin to solve the soul-crushing, worst-in-the-nation traffic that people have failed to address for 50 years.

“This project has the support of the overwhelming majority of Marylanders, and was recently advanced by the regional Transportation Planning Board.”

Treasurer Nancy Kopp (D), voted no, saying the recent United Nations climate change report and the lack of analysis on the project gave her pause.

“We’ve all read about the IPCC that makes clear what a crisis and catastrophe climate change is,” Kopp said. “We have to change the way we do things… we can’t just continue to look at concrete.”

Project opponents had hoped to sway Franchot, who is running for governor, to vote against the project contract. But Franchot voted yes after he asked for a series of assurances from Maryland Transportation Secretary Greg Slater. Those included capping tolls, that there would be project labor agreements in place before construction, and that limits be placed on the amount of private land that is taken for the project.

About 40 people spoke during the public comment period, with a slight majority speaking in favor. They spoke on the project’s impact on climate change, and also talked about time away from family because of being stuck in traffic. Contractors, asphalt companies, and other construction firms testified it would benefit their business and workforce.

Opponents say the state is putting the cart before the horse with the contracts, saying there hasn’t been enough financial, risk, and environmental analysis to know if the project is worth undertaking. They also say the highway project would encourage more driving and sprawling development instead of more climate-friendly solutions like public transit.

“The project would harm our communities, the climate, and our wallets and still not alleviate congestion for most drivers,” the Sierra Club said on Facebook.

Kopp, the state treasurer, didn’t get $100,000 she asked for a legal and financial review of the contract, which could put taxpayers at risk. If the project doesn’t happen, Maryland will lose out on up to $50 million it promised to Accelerate Maryland Partners today. Slater said Maryland would pay for the work that is completed.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich argued that rejecting the public-private partnership “is the only responsible action the BPW can take at this juncture.” He argued that the partnership should be limited to the American Legion Bridge replacement until the environmental analysis is completed on the rest of the project. He also urged other funding methods for the project instead of a public-private partnership.

“The deeper you get into this, the harder it is to get out,” Elrich said during public comment. “This is too important.”

The entire Montgomery County Council wrote a letter asking the vote be delayed until a more thorough analysis is complete.

“The State should not enter into an agreement of this magnitude without due diligence to fully understand the contractual obligations we are assuming,” wrote the lawmakers. “Careful study of the contract by the Bond Counsel and Financial Advisor is a necessary part of that due diligence.”

Before the vote, supporters and opponents held dueling press conferences just a short walk away from each other.

The Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance and Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance urged a yes vote for the “hugely popular plan.” They were joined by several builder groups including the Maryland Transportation Builders and Materials Association, the Baltimore-D.C. Building Trade, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Montgomery County.

They say creating dynamically-priced, congestion-free HOT lanes that are free for carpoolers and buses will decrease traffic gridlock. They also say it will create 7,500 jobs.

Slater, the state transportation secretary, says the contract needed to be approved now to make sure the American Legion Bridge can be completed as it nears the end of its useful life, take advantage of historically low-interest rates, avoid rising construction costs and avoid “irreparably harming Maryland’s reputation for future P3 solicitations.”

Meanwhile, the Maryland Sierra Club, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Citizens Against Beltway Expansion, and elected officials including Elrich, Rockville Mayor Bridget Newton, and Del. Jared Solomon (D-Montgomery County) says the BPW should’ve waited until they had a more thorough review of the project to sign the contract.

The board’s approval comes after a rollercoaster year for the project.

In May, the state drastically cut back the size and scope of the project at the request of residents and Montgomery and Prince George’s county officials.

Then in June, the Transportation Planning Board, which is made up of local elected officials and transportation department officials, dashed hopes for the project after they rejected it for further federal air quality review. A month later, under political pressure from Hogan and a few new board members, the TPB reversed course and voted 28 to 10 in favor of the project.

Hogan introduced the project in 2017 and has been defending it as his signature infrastructure project, saying it won’t cost taxpayers any money. Hogan is term-limited and leaves office in 2023, possibly eying a run for the Republican nomination for president.

The public-private partnership project still has numerous steps and votes to go through, and opponents say they’ll use each opportunity to fight against it.

“I’m disappointed,” Elrich told DCist/WAMU after the vote. “We’ll stay engaged. I’ve tried to help them figure out how to make this project better. I’ll keep talking to Greg [Slater] and try to convince them there are better ways of doing things. My concern is the governor is more vested in this being a P3 project than this being a transportation project. He’s more interested in how much money do I give Transurban rather than what value do I get for the taxpayers of Maryland.”

Additional reporting by Dominique Maria Bonessi.