Maryland Scraps Costly PLA Requirement from Key Bridge Reconstruction

Maryland Removes Costly PLA Requirement

Read more here: Maryland unveils 4 Key Bridge contracts totaling $4B

Two years after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Maryland officials have quietly abandoned one of the most controversial requirements attached to the project's original contract: a government-mandated Project Labor Agreement.

The decision comes after negotiations with the project's original contractor collapsed over cost concerns. Maryland has now moved to a new procurement strategy that breaks the project into multiple contracts and removes the PLA requirement that governed the previous agreement.

In other words, after years of promises about rebuilding the bridge quickly and efficiently, Maryland is finally acknowledging what critics of PLAs have been saying all along: limiting competition comes at a cost.

That lesson has been expensive.

When Maryland first sought federal funding for the project, officials estimated the replacement bridge would cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion and be completed by 2028. By late 2025, those estimates had ballooned to between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion, while the completion date slipped to 2030.

Then came another setback.

In April, Maryland walked away from negotiations with Kiewit after state officials determined the contractor's price was too high. Rather than proceed, the state chose to rebid the work through multiple contracts and, notably, without a PLA mandate.

The obvious question is: why now?

If removing the PLA requirement and increasing competition is the right move today, why wasn't it the right move when the project began?

Maryland is not alone. Across the country, elected officials continue to impose PLAs on public infrastructure projects despite evidence that they reduce competition and increase costs. The result is often the same: fewer bidders, higher prices, and taxpayers left holding the bill.

The Key Bridge rebuild is a reminder that infrastructure policy should focus on results, not political preferences.

To Maryland's credit, officials appear to have recognized that reality before wasting more time and taxpayer money.  

But by scrapping the PLA requirement and reopening the project to broader competition, Maryland has taken a step toward putting taxpayers ahead of politics.

Virginia’s leaders should take note.