Ben Ross, head of community group Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition which opposes the toll lanes, said final approval of the project had already been pushed back from September to the end of the year before the court ruling.

“Any delay past January 18 would put the project in the hands of a new governor,” he said.

Maryland’s Republican governor Larry Hogan has championed the project but several of the leading candidates to replace him at the end of his fixed term in January 2023 oppose the toll lanes, putting pressure on the parties to finalise a deal to built it before he leaves office.

Cintra’s lawyer in the case, Douglas Gansler, did not respond to a request for comment from The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.

Transurban said in its half-year earnings results last week that it expected to select a builder this quarter and receive final approval to move ahead with the project in the second half of calendar 2022, with construction set to start in 2023.

The first stage of the Maryland Express Lanes Project is worth $US4 billion to $US5 billion and Transurban hopes it will put it in the pole position to then develop the future stages, valued at another $US9 billion to $US11 billion over the next decade.

Transurban already owns around 85 kilometres of express lanes around the greater Washington DC area and is hoping to grow as US states look to “public-private partnerships” to build much-needed infrastructure.

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