Let's keep our momentum going

Our efforts have dealt a serious setback to the Administration’s plans:

The steady drumbeat of unanswered questions and concerns about the project have led to increased scrutiny and forced additional review. And be assured that all of this is being closely watched from afar by the potential investor groups. They can hardly be filled with confidence in the viability of the Governor’s 495-270 P3 scheme by what they’re seeing.

The Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW) was to meet December 4 to vote on substantial changes to their June 4th plan for the toll lane project. However, the new version of the toll lane scheme requires the BPW to approve the change.

The date for the BPW to consider the changes has been repeatedly postponed. A new date for the vote has still not been determined.

Once again, Comptroller Franchot’s vote will be decisive. E-mail him now (pfranchot@comp.state.md.us) and tell to delay the BPW vote until there is more information about the plan’s finances and environmental impacts. The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) must release its financial analyses to the BPW and the public before a vote takes place.

Recent events

  • November 20: The Montgomery County Delegation to the General Assembly Priorities Hearing included discussion of the Governor’s toll lane project. Dontwiden270.org members and others provided testimony opposing the Governor’s plan.

  • November 20: The Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) voted unanimously to reject Governor Hogan’s P3 proposal. M-NCPPC’s vote is important because it controls parkland that MDOT needs for the highway expansion.

  • November 22: Governor Hogan launched an effort to rush big changes in the toll lane plan through the BPW over the Thanksgiving holiday, when public attention would be at a minimum. A vote was scheduled for December 4.

  • December 2: Nearly half the Maryland General Assembly (84 Senators and Delegates) sent a letter to the BPW to cancel discussion of the P3 proposal on December 4. The legislators requested the review occur only when MDOT provides sufficient information for the BPW, stakeholders, and the public to understand the proposal.

  • December 2: Comptroller Franchot requested a delay until December 18 on the BPW’s vote for amendments to the P3 toll lane procurement. Mr. Franchot acknowledged that additional time was necessary to consider the potential consequences of the plan.

  • December 3: Governor Hogan agreed to delay the BPW vote until December 18 in consideration of Comptroller Franchot’s request.

  • December 4: Governor Hogan did not appear at the BPW meeting. Lt. Governor Rutherford presided instead.

  • December 5: Comptroller Franchot announced that the critical vote on the P3 amendments might not occur until after Christmas to allow additional time for review.

  • December 6: The P3 proposal to widen I-270 and I-495 did not appear on the December 18 BPW agenda. However, it is still possible for a vote to occur on December 18. The next BPW meeting after December 18 is January 8, 2020.

For more information on recent events, go to https://dontwiden270.org/archives

Write the Comptroller

The BPW vote may yet take place on December 18. It is essential that Comptroller Franchot be told that the BPW vote must not occur until there has been an independent fiscal analysis and an economic report, including toll rates. And these reports must be made public. Remind him that as the state's fiscal watchdog, he has a duty to protect Maryland taxpayers and promote fiscal responsibility.

If you wrote before or you have not yet written, now is the time to write:

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

Be sure to include your home address in the email.

Check out our latest addition to En Español on our website:

Legislatura Estatal: Una Visión General is the Spanish version of “Your State Legislature: An Overview”   


Have a Question or Comment? Want a speaker for your community?

E-mail us at contactdontwiden270@gmail.com .


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Raise your voice and draw attention to Dontwiden270 with these colorful, two-sided yard signs!   Order here.


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.