Local governments, grassroots organizations, and individuals tell MDOT the DEIS is flawed and the project has to stop.
In September 2017, Governor Hogan announced his plan to use a public-private partnership (P3) to widen I-270 and the Beltway (I-495) with express toll lanes. Private companies would design, build, operate, and maintain the new lanes and collect toll revenues for the next 50 years. Under Federal law, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is necessary for the I-495/I-270 P3 proposal because the project would have significant environmental impacts.
On July 10, 2020 the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) released its 90-pound, 18,000-page DEIS on the project. Then MDOT added 1,600 more pages! Public comments poured in before the November 9 deadline.
Incredibly, on the morning of November 9, the final day of the comment period, MDOT released tables of travel times on I-270 for the alternatives retained for detailed study. These tables were not included in the DEIS. Hiding these figures, which do not support significant time savings for any of the alternatives, and which were requested repeatedly by lawmakers and other individuals and organizations, is one more reason to send MDOT back to the drawing board. Read about this breaking development here and here.
The DEIS provided clear evidence of what would happen if this fiasco of a project is implemented: years of construction misery, damaged communities, detours and traffic snarls, major backups on secondary roads, and unaffordable tolls. The project would be a disaster for Maryland’s environment, finances, taxpayers, residents, businesses, and communities.
ACTION ITEM
For the moment, please just keep staying informed! We will notify you of new developments and future action items.
Thank You
Thank you for sending your comments on the DEIS to MDOT, Comptroller Franchot, Delegate Barve and the Montgomery County Council. And special thanks to so many of you who helped distribute door hangers and postcards encouraging yet more people to write letters to stop this project.
Public Feedback
As required by law, the State obtained testimonies and written comments on the DEIS from the general public. Individuals, community organizations, government agencies, and others voiced their opinions on the project and the DEIS.
Public Hearings:
MDOT held four virtual public hearings and two in-person public hearings about the DEIS in August and September. Transcripts and recordings of the hearings can be found here. Select transcripts from testimonies by public officials and representatives of organizations and associations can be viewed here.
141 individuals provided oral testimony either virtually, in-person, or by voicemail.
21 individuals (15%) testified in favor of the project. Most of these individuals were owners or employees of businesses connected to highway construction.
84 individuals (59%) voiced opposition to the project by using the words "opposed to the project" or “I support the no build option.”
36 individuals (26%) didn’t use those words, but said the DEIS was flawed and raised serious concerns about the plans for the project.
Written Comments:
Dontwiden270.org and Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE) partnered on a massive get-out-the-comment campaign to encourage residents of Montgomery and Prince George Counties to write to MDOT opposing the P3 project. With the help of numerous volunteers, 1,000 pre-printed postcards were addressed and mailed and 12,000 door hangers were distributed to communities along I-270 and I-495.
Written comments on the DEIS were accepted from July 10 until November 9. The comments will become part of the public record and are subject to release to the public through the Freedom of Information Act.
Comments ranged in length from less than a page to hundreds of pages and were submitted by individuals, organizations, and government officials and agencies. Some organizational and government comments are listed below with links to the complete documents
The agencies and organizations felt the process should be halted and a new DEIS prepared that appropriately presents the impacts of the proposed project. Some common themes in the documents included:
There must be a commitment to public engagement and transparency.
The DEIS misrepresents the purpose and need of the project.
The DEIS only analyzes toll lanes and does not consider other alternatives or transit.
The DEIS does not consider harm to human health.
Environmental impacts are not adequately addressed.
The project will negatively impact local and national parklands.
The project disproportionately affects low income communities.
There is inadequate analysis of economic impacts to communities and financial risks to the State and taxpayers.
What Happens Next?
After the hearings and review of written comments, MDOT will refine the data presented in the DEIS and prepare the FEIS and a Record of Decision (ROD). The ROD will identify MDOT’s Preferred Alternative. These documents must be reviewed by numerous federal agencies and approved by the Federal Highway Administration. The FEIS and ROD are scheduled to be issued in Spring 2021 but delay is quite possible.
The P3 Agreement for Phase 1 of the project will then go to the Board of Public Works (BPW), which must approve the agreement before an award can be made.
This P3 has a “Phase P3 agreement” and a “Section P3 agreement,” This two-step process means that the State picks the “Phase Developer (PD).” If approved by the BPW, the PD contractor will design the first segment of the toll lanes (from the American Legion Bridge to I-370).
The PD contractor and MDOT will then negotiate a Section Contract, under which the contractor will build the toll lanes and operate them for the next 50 years. The Section Contract, including toll-setting, financial guarantees from the state, and the requirements the toll lanes must meet, will be negotiated on a sole-source basis. This means the State cannot get multiple bidders as would be the case in traditional state financing and construction of a highway.
Construction is expected to start sometime in 2022. All dates are tentative and have been slipping from what MDOT projected. Legal challenges may delay the scheduled dates.
Recent Must Read Articles:
Two articles in Maryland Matters reported that underground power lines, large water and sewer pipes, and fiber-optic cables could face major disruption. MDOT officials said the State has not determined what underground assets will need relocating, what the cost will be, and who will pay. Read here and here.
A Washington Post article captured both the personal hardship to Maryland homeowners and businesses as well as the financial risk to the State caused by the Purple Line P3 and is a forewarning of the outcome of the much larger I-270 & I-495 P3. Read here.