Maryland-D.C. region's county execs discuss importance of transportation needs

Montgomery County (Maryland) Executive Isiah Leggett said transportation infrastructure is one of the most important issues facing the region during a Friday meeting of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) Board of Directors.

The council is made up of regional counties' executives.

Leggett said the ability to address transportation needs would have a major impact on the region’s economic competitiveness, emphasizing that officials need to educate local communities about the benefits of cooperating on the issue.

Leggett was speaking as part of MWCOG’s 2015 focus on economic competitiveness, which stresses the need for regional jurisdictions to cooperate on important issues across county borders.

Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker III said area residents cross city, county and state lines all the time, and he encouraged government officials to approach challenges and develop ideas without being constrained by jurisdictional borders. “There is no Berlin Wall between (Prince George’s County and Washington, D.C.),” Baker said.