Chapter 725 of the 2010 Laws of Maryland clarifies standards for the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) evaluation and selection of projects for its annual Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP). Transportation Article § 8-612 governs the method by which local governments communicate their capital project priorities to the state by noting that “the local governing body and a majority of the local legislative delegation shall establish a list of priorities from among those secondary system projects listed in the needs inventory and the Administration shall engage in initial project planning upon the request of the local governing body and a majority of the local legislative delegation in the order established in the list of priorities. MDOT's Highway Needs Inventory (HNI) Overview defines the secondary system as a "network of state routes which serve inter-regional and localized traffic. This network consists of 3,955 miles (75.45%) of the total state maintained roadways and provides feeder and support functions to the Primary System. It also complements county highway systems."

Chapter 725 also establishes the connection between prioritized projects, the Maryland Transportation Plan (MTP), and a jurisdiction's comprehensive plan. Requests for the inclusion of a capital project in the CTP must include the location of the project, the need for the project, a discussion of how the project addresses state transportation goals, and a description of how the project supports local government land use goals. As part of the annual CTP process, MDOT accepts the requests, in the form of Priority Letters, on or around April 1 of each year. Counties are required to submit Priority Letters that detail how proposed projects advance the six goals of the MTP. MDOT encourages municipalities and regional planning organizations to coordinate with counties if they wish for a project to be included in a Priority Letter, as county letters most impact MDOT's CTP decision making process. Counties should engage the public, municipalities, major employers, and other stakeholders, including military installations, in the Priority Letter development process. As a means of supporting mutually beneficial transportation infrastructure (roads, transit, multimodal), jurisdictions and their neighboring military installations should discuss desired transportation projects each year during the priority letter drafting process, ideally as part of a regularly scheduled and coordinated process. MDOT reports and maintains annual Priority Letters on its Maryland Priority Letter Map. Planning recommends that counties and municipalities also work with military installations to ensure projects are consistent with local comprehensive plans, as that is one measure by which MDOT measures proposals during the CTP process. If a project is not included in a jurisdiction's comprehensive plan, or if the land use plan does not support a proposed project, such as transit connecting growth areas with major employers or other high trip generating destinations, then a jurisdiction and military installation should consider how the comprehensive plan might best be updated our amended to demonstrate consistency with the proposed project. Another option is for installations to articulate their priority transportation projects through the MMIC.