The absurdities of MDOT’s traffic forecasting claims (adding toll lanes in Bethesda ends traffic jams near Annapolis??) were just uncovered by our valued partner, the Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition. Accurate traffic forecasts are critically important. If they can’t be trusted, then MDOT’s Supplementary Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) -- the public’s only means of evaluating the P3 project -- can’t be trusted either. DontWiden270.org and other grassroots groups are urging the Federal Highway Administration to require a do-over.
Right now, though, we’ve got an 11/15 deadline to submit public comments on the SDEIS. And public comments matter! You’ll find commenting tips and details below, including a handy guide to toll-lane facts that should convince any skeptic that MDOT’s up to no good.
*** Important Action Item ***
Register for the Maryland Sierra Club’s virtual call-to-action event on legal strategy for fighting the toll lanes: Tuesday, October 26 at 7 p.m. You’ll be welcomed by former MD Governor Parris Glendening, hear an update on the P3 project, and learn how you can support the Sierra Club’s plans to stop the toll lanes through the work of the Maryland Smart Growth Defense Fund.
Much of the fight against the P3 has to be waged on legal and procedural grounds, and that requires smart, effective legal and subject matter expertise. We’re grateful the Sierra Club is working to find and leverage that expertise. The people they engage do some pro bono work, but this effort still takes considerable funds.
Please support the Maryland Smart Growth Defense Fund. It helps resource the legal strategy shared by our coalition of advocacy groups and is entirely devoted to stopping the toll-lane expansion.
Comments on the SDEIS needed! Please submit yours by 11/15. Numbers matter!
As of this writing, MDOT has granted no extension of the 45-day public comment period for the SDEIS. The current deadline is November 15.
You have the following commenting options. Click on the links below for specific instructions, or access all instructions here:
Provide verbal public testimony at virtual public hearing sessions on November 1, 2021.
Provide verbal public testimony via voicemail (855-432-1483) during virtual public hearing sessions, or throughout the 45-day comment period.
Submit an electronic comment form.
Send an email to oplanesMLS@mdot.maryland.gov.
The 8,000+ page SDEIS, issued by MDOT on October 1, was supposed to give detailed information about the impact of the American Legion Bridge/I-495/I-270 project on the physical, cultural, and human environment. But the SDEIS, like the DEIS before it, lacks adequate information, analysis, and mitigations in critically important areas.
To inspire your SDEIS comments, refer to the handy guide below. You’ll also find a list of additional issues you might like to include.
A handy guide to what’s wrong with the toll lane project
Staying on top of the I-495/I-270 P3 is hard. So many moving parts and rabbit holes, so many intentional obstacles. To inspire your SDEIS comments and help you cut through the noise, we’ve put together this very abbreviated guide to refer to and share, especially with those who still need convincing that the toll lanes won’t work.
What We Know - The project’s traffic model lacks credibility.
How We Know - Analysis of traffic forecast cites pervasive errors.
What We Know - Hogan prevented an independent financial review of the P3 agreement.
How We Know - He denied State Treasurer’s funding request for financial and legal analysis (p. 6).
What We Know - The toll lanes will not help congestion.
How We Know - Free lanes will go only 7 mph for long stretches in PM rush. Bottlenecks get worse.
What We Know - The tolls will be sky-high. *
How We Know - Apply the cost escalation rate (p. 36) to the 2020 maximum toll rates (p. 22) and get $50 tolls to go 12 miles in 2026.
What We Know - Toll-setting reflects the skewed population in a key study.
How We Know - Only 27% of invited participants in this study had household incomes under $100k (p. 57).
What We Know - The full Beltway is back in the plan.
How We Know - See MDOT’s new project map.
* If you want to comment on those sky-high tolls one more time, you have til 10/28 to call the MD Transportation Authority at 855-701-1977 and leave a message; or click here to use the comment form.
Here are more topics you might like to include in your SDEIS comments
These issues are either inadequately addressed or not addressed at all in the SDEIS:
Impact of telework on congestion
Impact of induced demand
Increased traffic on local roads
Impact of 5 years of construction, and related disruptions, noise, pollution
Unspecified/underestimated Limits of Disturbance
Necessity of relocating utilities – and determining who pays
Air quality/air emissions, including particulate matter and the cumulative impacts of greenhouse gases
Climate change analysis
Stormwater management and water quality monitoring
Issues of environmental justice
Significant loss of tree cover, park land, and wildlife
Loss of portions of homeowner property (note that MDOT has said no homes will be taken for Phase 1 South)