The private partner in Maryland’s quest to build toll lanes on parts of the Capital Beltway and I-270 and replace the American Legion Bridge is abandoning the project. Australian company Transurban, which was selected to manage the project and already operates most of the region’s toll lanes, announced its decision late Thursday.

The toll lanes, aimed to reduce congestion in one of the region’s worst bottlenecks, was the brainchild of former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan that began in 2017. But key milestones to cement the effort weren’t completed before Hogan left office, and new Gov. Wes Moore has signaled he wants to re-evaluate the toll lanes and get better community input before going ahead.

The $6 billion project, to be built through a public-private partnership, was controversial for its land needs, its prioritization of cars over transit, and its environmental impacts.

Transurban and several other firms created Accelerate Maryland Partners to design and build the lanes, rebuild the outdated American Legion Bridge on the Beltway’s western side, and run the toll operation. But “the project continues to face challenges including significant delays to environmental approvals, changing political landscape, and environmental lawsuits that remain unresolved,” Accelerate Maryland Partners said in a news release late Thursday.

Moore said in a statement that Transurban’s move doesn’t mean the project is dead. “The state remains committed to continuing progress and will move forward in a manner that ensures social equity, environmental protection, and engagement with local partners while always acting in the best interest of taxpayers,” he said.

Transurban was due to submit a more detailed construction plan to the state on March 21 and requested a four-month extension to try to make the project more amenable to the Moore administration, according to The Washington Post. The state did not grant that extension, the Post reported.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said Accelerate Maryland Partners had the contractual right to end the partnership. He says MDOT is committed to “delivering a new American Legion Bridge and transportation solutions that relieve traffic congestion throughout this corridor and promote equity and environmental protection.”

Re-engaging the community on the best solutions going forward is the next step.

Maryland selected the group in February 2021 partly because it had experience operating tolls in Virginia, where it operates toll lanes on I-395, I-95, and I-495. The company still sees potential business opportunities in the region, however, it said in a statement

“We continue to see positive growth potential in North America and the Greater Washington Area (GWA), with regional fundamentals including high levels of congestion and a growing population,” Transurban CEO, Scott Charlton said in a statement. “Our current projects in (the region) include the Fredericksburg Extension project on the 95 Express Lanes and the Northern Extension project on the 495 Express Lanes.”

The future of projects in the area, including congestion relief and replacing the aging American Legion Bridge, is now murky as ever.

Montgomery Council President Evan Glass, who also chairs the council transportation committee, said the state needs to find a way to replace the American Legion Bridge and fix traffic.

“We need to work with Governor Moore to make that happen,” Glass said in a statement. “This reset by Governor Moore is a signal that he wants to work with local jurisdictions to achieve transportation solutions that help our residents and our region.

“I look forward to working with the Governor to achieve this important goal.”

The Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition, which opposed the project, called the developments “a great victory for fiscal and transportation sanity Now begins the work to build a balanced transport system where you have the choice of traveling across Maryland by rail or by road.”

Correction: A previous version of this story noted that Transurban is planning an expansion of I-495 toll lanes in Virginia. While Virginia is exploring this expansion, it has not yet moved forward with the plan or selected a private partner for that project.