09-07-2025
Maryland transportation chief leaving post, citing upcoming 70th birthday
Maryland Secretary of Transportation Paul J. Wiedefeld is leaving the administration of Gov. Wes Moore (D) at the end of the month after two and a half years, saying his approaching 70th birthday is the right time to step down as an agency head.
He is one of several Cabinet members to leave the Moore administration in recent weeks; the governor recently told state workers to prepare for a hiring freeze and possible buyouts. He will be replaced at least temporarily by Samantha Biddle, his deputy, who started her state government career as a planner for the State Highway Administration. Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller said in a statement that there would be a 'nationwide search' for 'a leader ready to meet the urgent needs of our transportation systems.'
Wiedefeld led the department through the catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last spring, new costs and delays in building the Purple Line through the D.C. suburbs, a crisis in Metro funding and deep state budget cuts. Last month his office released an ambitious plan for expansion of MARC service. We have a team in place that's going to keep pushing,' he said. 'These are things that take time, but they pay dividends over time.'
'He was a steady hand for several years during difficult times,' said Del. Marc Korman (D-Montgomery). Del. Deni Taveras (D-Prince George's) used the same word, steady, to say why she was disappointed Wiedefeld was leaving before the Purple Line's long-awaited opening. 'I would like to have someone steady at the wheel through the very end,' she said. 'He's been phenomenal.'
Along with that project, Wiedefeld leaves with no funding for a promised light-rail project in Baltimore, the American Legion Bridge in need of repair and Virginia looking to expand toll roads up to the state border with no commitment to continue them on the Maryland side. But he rejected the idea, becoming popular among some Democrats, that excessive red tape has made building infrastructure too difficult.
'It's something that we can all improve and it's at every level,' he said. 'But we have to remember that a lot of those process things that do irritate people because they can cost time, they were put in place to protect people. … whether it's a community impact issue, noise issues, environmental issues. At the end of the day we have to do something that the community can support; we're not going to just push through with something. Those days are gone.'
Wiedefeld spent four decades in transportation, helming both the Maryland Aviation Administration and the Maryland Transit Administration. He was general manager of the Metro system for six tumultuous years; not long after he started he shut the system down over a fire and he left after pulling dozens of operators from service because of training lapses. Throughout, he struggled to change what an audit described as a 'toxic' and 'chaotic' environment inside the agency.
At MDOT, however, Wiedefeld said he was confident he was leaving the system in good shape. 'A lot of our effort has been in rebuilding the culture in the department,' he said. His leadership team is strong enough, he said, that 'in effect, anybody could be secretary.'
He said he would likely do some academic or nonprofit work in the future, 'but nothing on this scale.'
'I would spend much more time with my family, I would travel, live a little bit more of a normal life,' Wiedefeld said. 'This life is very demanding.'
