Action Alert: Plan to Widen I-270 Through Rockville Could Get Vote Next Week

Governor Hogan wants to change his plan for privatized toll lanes on I-270 and the Beltway -- but the new version is no better for Rockville and the I-270 corridor. 

Write to Comptroller Peter Franchot at pfranchot@comp.state.md.us and tell him that now is not the time to approve these changes.

The new scheme would build the costly "Lexus Lanes" first from the American Legion Bridge to I-370. Neighborhoods south of Shady Grove along I-270 remain in the cross-hairs. Along with that, the governor is trying to change the process for selecting the contractor in order to attract reluctant bidders to this financially dubious scheme.

The only approval needed for this change is from the state Board of Public Works (BPW), consisting of the governor himself, Comptroller Franchot, and Treasurer Nancy Kopp. Treasurer Kopp is already skeptical of the toll lane plan, so the Comptroller seems to be the swing vote.

The vote, originally scheduled for last Wednesday, was put off after Mr. Franchot asked for a two-week postponement. A letter from 84 state legislators asked for a delay until the public is fully informed. But the highway lobby is pushing hard to get a go-ahead at the next BPW meeting on December 18.

Write the Comptroller

Write to Comptroller Franchot now:

The Honorable Peter Franchot, Comptroller of Maryland at pfranchot@comp.state.md.us. 

Tell him that the vote on the toll lane plan should be delayed until next year so that the public can be fully informed about it. Some additional points you can make:

• The Maryland Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) has analyzed whether each toll lane segment will need taxpayer subsidies and how high the tolls will be. But it is keeping its findings secret. No vote should take place before the public sees these studies and has time to evaluate them.
  

• The new contracting setup allows financial firms to bid without naming their construction subcontractor. It gives bidders only one month to write a multi-billion dollar proposal. This is an invitation to favoritism and incompetence.
  

• Adding lanes just from the bridge to Shady Grove will make traffic jams even worse at the lane merges on northbound I-270 and where I-270 joins the Beltway east of Wisconsin Avenue.

Use these points, or add more to share your thoughts in your own words. Be sure to include your home address in the email. 

Dontwiden270.org will continue to keep you informed of what is happening and how you can help.

Action alert: Big vote next week on I-270 widening

Maryland's Board of Public Works will vote next week on a new version of the plan to build toll lanes on I-270 and the Beltway — and it's even worse than we already know.

Not only would these highways be widened with devastating consequences for nearby neighborhoods, but the $11 billion dollar contracts for this work would be handed out in a secret negotiation process that is an open invitation to favoritism.

State Comptroller Peter Franchot is the crucial swing vote on the 3-member Board of Public Works. Send him an email now at pfranchot@comp.state.md.us and tell him to vote against this new scheme.

Last June, the BPW voted  2-to-1 to begin the toll lane project with I-270.  But it soon became clear that this wouldn't work — traffic would back up all the more at the American Legion Bridge.

On November 12, Governor Hogan revealed a new version of the toll lane scheme. The Beltway would be widened at the same time as the section of I-270 south of Shady Grove.

But this requires the BPW to approve the change. What the BPW will vote on was quietly revealed late last Friday afternoon.

Not only does the new version reverse the original 270-first vote, but it alters the procurement process for these giant 50-year contracts:

• Everything that matters will be done in secret talks between the bidders and a few state officials.

• The contractors will have only one month to write the final proposal for an $11 billion dollar contract.

• The firm that wins the contract gets a free hand to pick the construction companies that actually do the work. The state doesn't know who's on the teams when it decides which team is best.

This proposal flies in the face of everything we know about open competition and selection of reliable contractors. It is a threat to the state’s fiscal and economic health for the 50-year length of the project. The state administration wants to use the Thanksgiving holiday to jam this through without an opportunity for meaningful oversight or deliberation.

Comptroller Franchot’s vote will once again be decisive. E-mail him now and tell him to delay consideration until there has been an independent fiscal analysis and the environmental impact statement (EIS) is completed. Write: 

The Honorable Peter Franchot, Comptroller of Maryland at pfranchot@comp.state.md.us.

Tell him that this is a license to loot the state treasury. As the state's fiscal watchdog, he has a duty to protect Maryland taxpayers against this threat.  

Use these points, or add more to share your thoughts in your own words. Include your home address in the email.

Dontwiden270.org will keep you informed of what else you can do to help.

Latest with M-NCPPC, Md. State Legislature

The M-NCPPC votes unanimously not to sign off on the P3 proposal

The Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) voted 9-0 on November 20 to reject Governor Hogan’s P3 proposal to add toll lanes to I-495 and I-270. M-NCPPC ’s vote is important because it controls parkland that MDOT needs for the highway expansion.

The M-NCPPC commissioners repeated comments from their previous meeting in June that they need more information about the plan’s finances and environmental impacts. They also insisted that significant transit options be included in any proposal. 

Following the meeting, there was even discussion that local officials might sue to prevent the State from acquiring public parkland. 

Meanwhile, Lisa Choplin, the SHA project director, said the rejection would not prevent the toll plan from moving forward.

For more information, read Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE) commentary on DW270 (edited for length) or the November 21 CABE commentary (additional discussion).
 

Dontwiden270.org Recent Legislative Conversations 

Dontwiden270.org leaders have been meeting with state legislators in anticipation of the opening of the Maryland General Assembly on January 8, 2020. 

On November 19, Don’t Widen 270 and officials from the city of Rockville held a meeting withDelegate Kumar Barve, Chair of the HouseEnvironment and Transportation Committee. We emphasized that Governor Hogan's flawed P3 plan is not only an important issue for his constituents but also a threat to the state’s fiscal and economic health.

• Delegate Barve stated that his staff is investigating what legislation would be feasible under existing P3 law. There was also considerable discussion about financing issues.

• Also, Delegate Barve said he was working with Delegate Marc Korman to find out whether anything can be done about the P3 through the Legislature’s budget authority.

November 20 was the annual Joint House and Senate Priorities Hearing of theMontgomery County Delegationto the General Assembly. A number of Donwiden270 membersgave testimony opposing the Governor’s P3 plan. Legislators were asked to support bills that would prevent this plan from going forward.

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