Now what? The change in the Statehouse caused by Tuesday’s elections may be leading a lot of us to ask that question. Any momentum or traction that certain projects or ideas were getting, like improved transit service, will likely be stalled for several months during the transition. What are the priorities of the incoming administration? Who will end up as head of the state transportation department? Will he or she be a proponent of roads or transit? Will that person be able to prioritize, as the money isn’t there to do everything that’s needed? Will Baltimore end up with the short end of the stick because the now-former mayor has already done what he can for the city? Can Martin O’Malley find the right people to put into key positions related to transportation around the state fast enough to make a difference?

These are the type of questions that should be top of mind for every commuter. As with any election, “What’s in it for me?” is asked before the vote is placed and then after the results are known. The new administration is going to have to make a number of tough decisions on where to best spend the limited amount of money they have available. They must decide how much to spend on fixing what’s already out there. They have to determine where the needs are greatest for new or improved service and this can often be skewed by areas of new development. Looking further down the road, so to speak, will they look to make bigger investments in transit and if so where and in what form?

The sad thing is that very little is likely to get done over the next two or three months. Many of the people at the top of the transportation food chain will be more concerned with finding new jobs than they will in making a difference here and now. Mid- and lower-level managers will be wondering if they will have jobs and they might not be as effective during the coming months.

Transition can be tough, and the biggest problem is that there aren’t too many good ways to let the new administration know what’s important to you and me as they plan for the future. That’s why we end up being reactive rather than proactive — we don’t get a chance to let these new leaders know what we really want until it’s too late.

Speaking of improvements — one of the busiest interchanges is getting some design work. Under the proposed design the interchange of Charles Street and Interstate-695 in Lutherville will get safety improvements as well as a wider bridge to accommodate future widening of the beltway. Everything will get realigned and the old Charles Street Bridge will be replaced. This interchange already handles 180,000 vehicles a day, and that number is expected to increase to 225,000 in the next 25 years.

Questions, comments, random musings? Write to Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com.