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State officials are giving Prince George's County an additional $48.2 million in federal stimulus money for roads and buses following weeks of complaints from county leaders that they were stiffed by the state in the first round of stimulus funding.

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) announced the funding for the second round of stimulus money for roads and transit Tuesday. The county will receive $6.7 million for the county bus and transit system and $7.4 million for local roads. Additionally, $34.1 million will be used by the State Highway Administration to work on state-owned roads in the county, including resurfacing Central Avenue in Capitol Heights, Route 1 in University Park, East West Highway in Riverdale and Riggs Road in Chillum.

O'Malley plans to announce the Capitol Heights project funding today.

In all, Prince George's County's $48.2 million equals about 20 percent of the $242 million allocated in the second round of road funding, making it the largest local share in the state.

In the first round, Prince George's received $1 million for new buses and the state pledged $18.7 million to resurface and repair state-owned roads and bridges in the county — well short of the more than $400 million county officials requested. Officials also gave $2.1 million for repairs at the MARC station in Laurel.

Maryland Department of Transportation Spokesman Jack Cahalan said Prince George's $70 million in total funding places it at the top of all counties for transportation stimulus money. Baltimore County received the next largest amount of second-round funding with $47.3 million, for a total of $58.3 million. Montgomery County ranked third with $19.3 million in the latest round, for a total of $57.3 million.

Prince George's officials had set their priorities on several high-dollar road projects, including a $66 million road improvement at Branch Avenue and $130 million for a new interchange at Suitland Parkway and Pennsylvania Avenue.

State officials have said that neither project qualifies for funding because it would not be able to start construction by March 2010, a requirement for the stimulus money.

Even with the additional state funding, the money likely will not be able to be used for top county road priorities since only $7.4 million has been designated for them.

State Transportation Secretary John Porcari did not return a request for comment by press time. County leaders were meeting at press time Wednesday to discuss the funding and were unavailable for comment.

The announcement of additional funding for Prince George's County followed weeks of complaints after the first round of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was passed by Congress in February. County officials, who said road funding from the state was slashed in November, said that the state did not provide them with what they needed for high-priority projects.

Frustrated council members, public works officials and delegates have been complaining to the state through letters, calls and meetings for more than a month, including a letter the council sent just as the stimulus money was announced Tuesday.

"To date, as applied to Prince George's County, the application of cuts and funding has been counterproductive," County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) and Council Chairwoman Marilynn M. Bland (D-Dist. 9) of Clinton wrote in a letter to O'Malley. "Certainly, the funding has not reached all levels in a fair and equitable manner."

E-mail Daniel Valentine at dvalentine@gazette.net.