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Moore-Hogan Toll Lane Plan Gets Feds’ Attention: Moore Needs to Hear From Us ASAP!
It’s time to make our voices heard. Again.
Maryland officials pushing private, for-profit toll lanes keep running into the everyday wisdom and activism of the Maryland public. Over the past eight years:
We’ve crowded into open houses/town halls/civic association meetings/MDOT and VDOT sessions in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. We’ve submitted thousands of public comments, including nearly 9,000 during MDOT’s federally-mandated review.
We’ve testified at local, county, state, and regional hearings. Carried signs (some made by our kids and grandkids) into rallies, press conferences, parades, and MDOT roadshows. Lobbied elected officials, distributed 15,000 door hangers, published newsletters and editorials, distributed handouts at civic functions, and supported a public interest lawsuit and appeal.
And we’ve created lasting statewide coalitions of grassroots, religious, and public advocacy organizations and elected allies, all urging state officials to turn to better, smarter options than private, for-profit toll lanes.
Outside MDOT 12/2/23 Open House at Wootton H.S.
Credit: Sierra Club MD Chapter
Latest updates
In December, the Trump Administration’s Department of Transportation (USDOT) said, “Governor Moore’s lack of action on the American Legion Bridge corridor is holding back progress on one of the nation’s most critical transportation routes…”
The Federal Highway Administration released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public and industry input on “accelerating reconstruction of the American Legion Memorial Bridge to ease Beltway congestion on the I-495/I-270 corridor.” The RFI highlighted Public-Private Partnerships (P3s).
Governor Moore came to office saying he’d reevaluate Larry Hogan’s for-profit P3 toll lane plan through a “lens of equity…a lens of environmental protection…and a core understanding of what it means to move in partnership with local jurisdictions, local elected officials and local leaders”.
But on January 11, Moore and USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy issued a joint statement saying, “Specifically for the American Legion Bridge, we agreed about the need to speed up the reconstruction and leverage innovative approaches like a public-private partnership (P3)…” As reported by Maryland Matters, Moore was explicit about using a P3 for the project.
Write to Moore now. Remind him that people don’t like $50 tolls.
And people don’t like subsidizing for-profit toll lane giants and giving them outsized say in state transportation policy. We don’t want VA’s bottlenecks relocating to MD, or for-profit toll lanes expanding around the Beltway and onto lower I-270. We don’t want years of construction misery and harm only to end up with more congestion and more accidents in the non-tolled lanes (as has happened in Northern VA), and worse bottlenecks on upper I-270.
Please, today, write to Governor Moore. Click here, choose “Transportation” from the Message Topic menu and let him know why you oppose private, for-profit toll lanes on the American Legion Bridge, I-495 and I-270.
More action to take
The USDOT is soliciting public comments on the RFI described in “Latest Updates” (above). Go to the latest newsletter from our trusted partner Citizens Against Beltway Expansion to find more information on the RFI and an easy, fillable form page for submitting a public comment on the RFI by the February 9 deadline.
Thank you!
Tell Regional Officials You Reject Moore-Hogan Toll Lanes
Please write to the DC region’s Transportation Planning Board (TPB) today! Your comments opposing the Moore-Hogan toll lanes will go into the public record as the TPB prepares to vote on Visualize 2050, its long-range plan. That plan includes the entirety of the Moore-Hogan toll lane construction project for the American Legion Bridge/I-495/I-270.
ASAP, send your comments to tpbcomment@mwcog.org. Tell officials how the toll lanes would negatively impact you. Let them know you aren’t convinced by the Moore administration’s unsupported assurances (see “MDOT’s true intentions” below). The comment period ends November 21.
Your input matters. Just last month, public activism – including comments sent by many of you – played a significant role in the removal of Virginia's Southside toll lane construction project from Visualize 2050. Please note, although Visualize 2050 seems certain to be approved this year, it can be modified in 2026 and beyond.
Key points you may want to personalize for your comment:
If MDOT turns to a for-profit partner (P3) to fund the toll lanes, the damage done to MD taxpayers and state transportation policy would last for generations.
The vast majority of the public could not afford to pay the sky-high tolls.
Northern VA’s bottleneck would be relocated to MD.
Wherever toll lanes end, new bottlenecks would be created; the only “fix” would be to build more toll lanes.
Congestion would get worse in the remaining general lanes and on roads that connect to the new toll lanes.
Safety would worsen as cars, trucks, and 18-wheelers are crowded together.
The toll lanes would cause profound harm to the environment, public health, public infrastructure, and much more.
MDOT’s true intentions: MDOT officials recently spoke about “truncating” the toll lane plan and even “removing” the lower I-270 segment. But in a letter to the TPB, MDOT rejected changes to Larry Hogan’s original plan. “While MDOT is comfortable to extend the time horizon for [the lower I-270] section from the proposed 2040 to 2045 for Visualize 2050…MDOT opposes any effort to remove this segment from the long-range plan as it would be inconsistent with the NEPA Record of Decision approved by the Federal Highway Administration” (p. 7; emphasis added). Important: That NEPA Record of Decision gave the OK to Hogan’s private, for-profit toll lane plan, the one now in Visualize 2050.
Write today to tpbcomment@mwcog.org.
Thank you for taking action!
Take Quick Action: Keep VA’s Toll Lanes Out of MD
Make your voice heard! Virginia wants to extend its private Southside toll lanes from Springfield, VA, across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and up to Oxon Hill in Prince George’s County, Maryland. On October 15, the Capital region’s Transportation Planning Board (TPB) will vote on whether to include this Southside project in the region’s long-range plan.
Please click on this Sierra Club link and tell TPB voting members that you oppose Virginia’s Southside project.
Reasons for the TPB to Vote ‘NO’
What VDOT proposes -- to build its private toll lanes inside another state -- appears to be unprecedented in the U.S.
The Southside project would hobble for decades the ability of regional officials, especially MD governors, to make effective transportation decisions.
The project would almost certainly preclude extension of the Metro Blue Line over the Wilson Bridge.
The project would create a new bottleneck in Maryland where the toll lanes end at Oxon Hill. Toll lane bottlenecks lead to more toll lanes, which lead to more bottlenecks, and on and on.
The vast majority of the public would find the private, for-profit toll lanes unaffordable.
VDOT has not provided essential information about the project’s impact on traffic congestion, secondary roads, and the environment.
VDOT has not studied the many smart, effective alternatives to Southside toll lanes.
Opposition to VDOT’s plan is broad and intense, and includes Prince George’s County officials, Charles County officials, WMATA, the Mayor of Alexandria and others. The Maryland Department of Transportation has said it will support Prince George’s County in the upcoming TPB vote.
Thank you for submitting comments to TPB voting members! You can watch the October 15 vote here.