Looking Ahead from Summer 2019

Going forward, DontWiden270.org plans to meet with key state legislators and provide testimony at legislative hearings about bills that may be introduced in the next session of the General Assembly.

We will urge the lawmakers to enact legislation as soon as the General Assembly reconvenes in January.

We will be sending you information about how you can help spread the word in your communities and contact your state delegates and senators to support legislation to prevent this ill-conceived boondoggle from moving forward.

Your involvement is very important. Thank you for your continued support and outreach on this issue!

Summer 2019 Happenings

The Maryland General Assembly adjourned April 8th and won’t reconvene until January 8, 2020. However, much has happened since the 2019 legislative session ended. Here are highlights of the ongoing activities around the proposed I-495 and I-270 managed toll lane project.

Key Summer Actions

• June 5: BPW approval: The Board of Public Works (BPW) voted 2 to 1 to allow the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) to proceed with the project as a public-private partnership (P3).

  • Importantly, at the last minute, Governor Hogan amended the order of the highway expansion so that widening I-270 would occur first.

• June 6: M-NCPPC rejection The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), the agency in charge of planning and parkland for Montgomery County and P.G County, voted 9 to 1 to reject MDOT’s screened alternative (ARDS), stating that the recommended ARDS are too narrow for a complete environmental review.

• July 11: Elrich plan Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich announced an alternative plan that increases the pressure to add lanes to I-270. Elich’s plan would funnel traffic from I-95 to I-270 via the Intercounty Connector. It is intended to relieve congestion on the Beltway by adding traffic to I-270.

  • The plan also calls for extending Virginia’s managed toll lane network on I-270 to I-370.

Meanwhile, MDOT is actively pushing the Governor’s managed toll lane project forward, planning to seek proposals from the private sector at the same time as conducting the required environmental study.

MDOT also held a workshop in August to inform businesses of contracting opportunities related to the program. 

DontWiden270.org and other organizations continue to voice their opposition and have recently focused on interactions with Montgomery County officials. 

• A letter was sent to Montgomery County elected officials following the BPW meeting requesting that Montgomery County insist decisions about I-270 be made through the same process of dialogue with MDOT that will take place for I-495.

• Meetings with County Council members and/or their staff have been held to determine where the members stand on the P3 proposal.

• DontWiden270.org met with County Executive Marc Elrich on Sept. 3rd to discuss his proposed alternative plan.

While the County has no legislative authority on interstate highways, repeated and vocal opposition to the project from Council members is crucial for getting public, press, and legislative attention. 

“Alternate Plan” from County Looks Bad for Lower I-270 Neighborhoods

County Executive Marc Elrich is advancing an alternative to Governor Hogan’s plan that will increase the pressure to add lanes to I-270. This “plan” seems to throw I-270 communities under the proverbial bus in order to protect Beltway neighborhoods. Mr. Elrich’s office has not responded to our repeated requests to meet and discuss the plan. 

Here’s what we know: The alternative plan is outlined in Mr. Elrich’s July 11th, 2019 letter to the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board. It calls for the following:  

• Funneling traffic from I-95 to I-270, via the Intercounty Connector. The plan is designed to relieve congestion on the Beltway by channeling commuters who travel south on I-95 and then west on the Beltway to head west on the Intercounty Connector (ICC) instead of the Beltway. This extra traffic would end up on lower I-270, adding even more cars to the existing congestion.

• Extending Virginia’s new toll lanes through I-270. The plan calls for the managed lane network that Virginia is building to connect into Maryland and would extend the additional toll lanes all the way up to I-370.

• Limited transit and technology integration. To its credit, the plan includes use of technology tools to better manage traffic flow as well as improvements to Park & Ride facilities, and notes that more could be done if funded with toll revenues.

Unfortunately, the welcome emphasis on transit may be the only part of this plan we could support. The additional traffic for I-270 and apparent commitment to carry the toll lanes from Virginia through Montgomery County raises a bunch of questions which we need to get answers to: 

• Who else in County leadership is backing this plan? Does this plan represent a consensus among elected County officials?

  • Did Mr. Elrich discuss this plan with the Montgomery Council before sending the July 11th letter? If not, why not? If so, what documentation were they provided?

  • Knowing how much anxiety has been expressed by local groups, why didn’t Mr. Elrich reach out to municipal leaders in Gaithersburg and Rockville and I-270 neighborhood and civic associations to discuss this plan?

• Regarding the plan itself, is there more written up than the July 11th letter and map? Where is the actual plan document? What analysis has been conducted to assess the impacts of shifting traffic from I-95 across the ICC to the I-270? And,

  • Why doesn’t Mr. Elrich support reversible lanes on the lower part of I-270 as well as north of I-370, which has been Montgomery County’s long-standing position?

  • How many lanes does Mr. Elrich propose be added to the lower part of I-270? How many lanes would there be in total on this section of I-270?

  • Why didn’t Mr. Elrich specify that any changes to I-270 below I-370 must stay within the existing rights of way and sound walls? How will he respond if MDOT says that I-270 will have to be widened beyond the existing rights-of-way for the plan to work?

If this “alternate plan” concerns you, and you’d like to see it and understand how the County Executive justifies putting one set of communities at risk to protect another, when he is supposed to be watching out for all of his constituents, please call Mr. Elrich’s office and ask: 240-777-0311. 

While you are at it, it’s worth asking the County Councilmembers what their positions are on this plan to dump traffic from I-95 and the Beltway onto I-270. Please only contact Councilmembers who represent you. The two who represent the areas where I-270 would be widened south of I-370 are:

Andrew Friedson, District 1:  240-777-7828 (Councilmember.Friedson@montgomerycountymd.gov) 

Sidney Katz, District 3:  240-777-7906 (Sidney.Katz@montgomerycountymd.gov)