BALTIMORE (AP) - The head of the Maryland State Highway Administration has testified about the persistence a state senator accused of bribery applied to getting traffic lights installed near the stores of a grocery chain that was paying him.

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Neil Pedersen testified Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, where Sen. Ulysses Currie is on trial.

Emails sent by Pedersen in 2004 show that Currie pressed hard to have a traffic light installed at a Baltimore County Shoppers Food Warehouse, even though two requests had been denied. The traffic light was never approved, but a change was made at the intersection to allow left turns.

Currie was paid more than $245,000 by Shoppers. Prosecutors say the payments were bribes, but Currie's lawyers say he only worked as a consultant and did nothing illegal.