Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich earlier this week in Rockville joined Maryland State Senator Cheryl Kagan, State Delegate Jared Solomon, Rockville Mayor Bridget Newton and numerous community advocates to demand improvements to the Maryland Department of Transportation’s proposed I-495/I-270 Managed Lane study. The following day, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Transportation Planning Board (TPB) voted to support the proposed plan, but there may be additional options to have it improved as advocates are suggesting.
The TPB, which includes representatives of jurisdictions from around the Washington Region, voted against the current plan in June, but this week reversed its previous decision.
Among the community advocacy organizations joining this week’s rally to ask for improvements in the plan were the Sierra Club, DontWiden270.org, Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE), the League of Women Voters and the Environmental Justice Ministry.
This week’s rally can be viewed at https://youtu.be/KfPeGOJLkCs. Photos from the event can be viewed at https://www.flickr.com/photos/montgomerycountymd/albums/72157719565693703.
“Montgomery County’s position on improvements to the Beltway and Interstate 270 has never been ‘no’,” said County Executive Elrich. “It has always been about finding the most efficient, effective and environmentally friendly way to reduce traffic congestion. There are two major problems with the Governor’s plan: the layout and the financing. These problems can be solved more efficiently and cost effectively by building two reversible lanes now and set back bridge abutments to accommodate future additional lanes if needed. In addition, we must make significant investments in mass transit, including bus-rapid transit, to reduce congestion and improve time for commuters getting off I-495. Our plan is not a ‘no,’ but it does factor in the concerns and input from residents. That is what we have asked for from day one.”
At this week’s rally, those advocating to improve the plan said Governor Hogan, through the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), continues to advance his proposal to add four private toll lanes to I-495 and I-270. Approval from the Transportation Planning Board was sought to enter into an agreement with a private partner for the project and to formally commence the design. In exchange for fronting the costs to build the toll lanes, a selected private entity will set toll pricing and collect income from the tolls over the next 50 years.
Elected officials and residents agreed that Montgomery County, as well as jurisdictions around the region, need transportation solutions to address the congestion around—and the structural condition—of the American Legion Bridge. However, they also said that the State has not completed the basic analysis of project benefits and impacts needed to make an informed decision. The concerned groups also said that MDOT has not conducted a project financial analysis to conclude that a decades-long obligation of public right-of-way for private commercial activity is necessary to serve the public interest.
Major project design and environmental study flaws cited against the project include:
The TPB, which includes representatives of jurisdictions from around the Washington Region, voted against the current plan in June, but this week reversed its previous decision.
Among the community advocacy organizations joining this week’s rally to ask for improvements in the plan were the Sierra Club, DontWiden270.org, Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE), the League of Women Voters and the Environmental Justice Ministry.
This week’s rally can be viewed at https://youtu.be/KfPeGOJLkCs. Photos from the event can be viewed at https://www.flickr.com/photos/montgomerycountymd/albums/72157719565693703.
“Montgomery County’s position on improvements to the Beltway and Interstate 270 has never been ‘no’,” said County Executive Elrich. “It has always been about finding the most efficient, effective and environmentally friendly way to reduce traffic congestion. There are two major problems with the Governor’s plan: the layout and the financing. These problems can be solved more efficiently and cost effectively by building two reversible lanes now and set back bridge abutments to accommodate future additional lanes if needed. In addition, we must make significant investments in mass transit, including bus-rapid transit, to reduce congestion and improve time for commuters getting off I-495. Our plan is not a ‘no,’ but it does factor in the concerns and input from residents. That is what we have asked for from day one.”
At this week’s rally, those advocating to improve the plan said Governor Hogan, through the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), continues to advance his proposal to add four private toll lanes to I-495 and I-270. Approval from the Transportation Planning Board was sought to enter into an agreement with a private partner for the project and to formally commence the design. In exchange for fronting the costs to build the toll lanes, a selected private entity will set toll pricing and collect income from the tolls over the next 50 years.
Elected officials and residents agreed that Montgomery County, as well as jurisdictions around the region, need transportation solutions to address the congestion around—and the structural condition—of the American Legion Bridge. However, they also said that the State has not completed the basic analysis of project benefits and impacts needed to make an informed decision. The concerned groups also said that MDOT has not conducted a project financial analysis to conclude that a decades-long obligation of public right-of-way for private commercial activity is necessary to serve the public interest.
Major project design and environmental study flaws cited against the project include:
- Lack of meaningful assessment of incremental improvements and management strategies for the highways and the assessment of specific transit services supporting travel in the corridors. These omissions eliminate the ability for the public and the TPB to understand what options, other than four privately financed toll lanes, that could improve these corridors, by how much and at what cost.
- The decision to break the I-270 corridor into two pieces is ineffective as it will exacerbate the bottleneck at I-370.
- Lack of a comprehensive plan. Montgomery County has consistently encouraged the acceleration of the study of I-270 north of I-370 so that a comprehensive plan could be considered, and commute relief provided, for those in northern Montgomery and Frederick County. To date, the State has not advanced this work, so these critical information gaps persist.
- Lack of evidence for a P3 financing plan. Without continuing congestion, there is a fear that not enough people will pay to use the priced lanes, and toll use will be too low to provide the required return to the toll lane operator. This motivation encourages operating the toll lanes far below their capacity to maintain congestion to push drivers to use the toll lanes. The draft environmental impact statement confirms the concerns by showing the toll-free lanes overwhelmed in most segments. This creates a massive equity problem for those who are unable to afford or otherwise access the toll lanes.
- MDOT is inappropriately incentivized to develop this project. It could cost MDOT nearly $200 million to stop the work, which is a powerful incentive to continue the project even if the project does not make sense for Montgomery County and the rest of the region. MDOT has already committed more than $140 million to this program. Entering into a Predevelopment Agreement with a developer will result in as much as $54 million more just for Phase 1 South. MDOT is likely to bear these costs unless the project is built.
- Contracting with a commercial entity that will benefit more from building a bigger project introduces inappropriate influence on the outcomes, further jeopardizing the assessment of the public interest by the TPB.
- The State does not provide an unbiased comparison of public toll financing in comparison to private toll financing. A wide range of financial strategies are available to the State (e.g. federal infrastructure and bridge programs, changes to current trust fund sources, vehicle-miles-traveled charges, etc.). The private partner is merely fronting money that our citizens will need to repay, along with profits above and beyond the cost of borrowing the money.
- The draft environmental impact statement notes that if MDOT has underestimated construction costs, the state may be required to subsidize the project as much as $998 million and that subsidy would “typically be paid to the developer at the beginning of the contract.”
