Communications folks know that if you want to bury bad news, release it on a Friday after 4 p.m. Well, guess what?
Friday, Jan. 3, after 4 p.m., just two and a half working days before the scheduled Jan. 8 Board of Public Works (BPW) meeting, Governor Larry Hogan announced that he and Comptroller Peter Franchot had reached an agreement on the Governor’s highway expansion plan. Mr. Franchot had been the swing vote since Treasurer Nancy Kopp had previously voted against the project.
Although Mr. Franchot’s chief of staff, Len Foxwell, said that the Governor and Mr. Franchot had been “discussing the proposal for the past month,” they waited until late on a Friday afternoon to make this announcement and post the Supplement with changes to the I-495 and I-270 P3 program on the BPW agenda. This last minute notice effectively blocked all in-depth review by other government officials or the public before the vote.
Increased collaboration? Really?
Despite the concept that there will be increased collaboration with local communities, there was no information sharing prior to the release of this amendment. The proposal will have considerable consequences for the City of Rockville; however, Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton was totally unaware of the agreement. She stated that she had “heard nothing” and was speechlessly disappointed.”
Additionally, this latest proposal puts residents along I-270 at greater risk. In a WTOP article, Greg Slater, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Secretary designate (to be voted on January 10) stated the following. “There may be some ‘strip impacts’ on the route – the land adjacent to I-270. Under our bid proposal, we’ll be looking to the private sector to minimize that, but there are no homes themselves being impacted.” This is a very disingenuous statement. The highway design will be determined by the companies. MDOT’s “minimizing the risk” is meaningless.
Proposed timeline
As described in the amendment, the first phase – all built by a single contractor -- will include widening the American Legion Bridge and the adjoining section of I-495. It also includes widening I-270 from I-495 to I-370 with four managed toll lanes. It specifies that widening the rest of I-495 and I-270 from I-370 to I-70 has been put off indefinitely. This process will only create greater choke points as traffic backs up where roads merge.
The timeline presented in the Supplement includes beginning the contracting process in February 2020 with proposals due from the companies in February 2021. Contracts would be in place by May 2021. Construction could begin within a few months of the award.
What you can do
1. Write the Montgomery County Council:
Mail sent using the form at https://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/CCL_ContactForms/ContactCouncil.aspx is included in the daily mail log, which is available to all Councilmembers and staff, and becomes part of the official public record.
Write Council member Sidney Katz (Councilmember.Katz@montgomerycountymd.gov) if you are a resident of Montgomery County district 3. District 3 includes Gaithersburg, Rockville, Washington Grove, Leisure World, and parts of Aspen Hill, Derwood, North Potomac and Potomac. Mr. Katz is also the new President of the Montgomery County Council.
Tell them:
There must be a county-wide approach. They must be very cautious about releasing press releases or statements to the press until the facts are known. MDOT has a number of analyses, including estimated tolls, that they refuse to release. Why are they hiding this information?
It is premature to agree to any alternatives until there is more transparency from MDOT and all the facts are made available to the public.
2. Write the state legislature:
Dontwiden270.org will continue to keep you informed of what is happening and how you can help. You can download information about five fatal flaws in this new plan.
Letter to Montgomery County Officials
Dontwiden270.org joined Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE), Maryland Transportation Opportunities Coalition (MTOC), Action Committee for Transit (ACT), and other organizations in the county in sending a letter to County Executive Elrich and Council President Katz. The letter demands full transparency and disclosure before any I-495 or I-270 highway decisions are made. MDOT has developed a Traffic and Revenue Model that calculates the predicted traffic volumes, toll charges, and profitability of the toll lanes. The letter stated that the County must insist that the complete results of these analyses be released to the public and only then should consideration of alternative highway plans begin.
Washington Post editorial “Why are so many lawmakers fighting Larry Hogan’s I-270 plan?”
The Washington Post Editorial Board has enthusiastically backed Governor Hogan’s P3 plan to add managed toll lanes to I-270 and the Beltway. In a December 26 editorial, the Editorial Board is more even tempered than past columns, but persists in its unwavering advocacy for the toll lanes
The editorial questions why so many officials are fighting the plan and then poses some curious responses. The Post acknowledges that “the probable answer lies in a combination of legitimate concerns about possible adverse effects on the environment and neighborhoods; the project’s daunting scale; [and] ideology-driven partisan politics…”
Instead of conceding the legitimacy of concerns about the proposal’s fiscal and environmental impact, the editors contend that the opposition is due to “shortcomings so far in Mr. Hogan’s issue framing and salesmanship.” Furthermore, they claim that to gain critical support, all he needs to do is “step up their information ground game.” As if packaging and selling his project is the ticket for the Governor to convince policy makers to support his proposal.
The Post consistently blames opponents of the toll lane plan for promoting traffic congestion. In fact, this is a fatally-flawed scheme that will not solve Maryland’s transportation crisis. This is not a choice between doing this or doing nothing. Yet the Governor refuses to consider alternative forms of traffic relief, including transit.
We are making progress in opposing the Governor’s proposal and getting under the skin of elected officials. We must keep up the pressure for full disclosure and demand that estimates of the tolls be made public. To publish informed editorials, the Washington Post Editorial Board should be requesting the same information.
Wall Street Journal reports “Motorists scorn North Carolina’s first public-private toll road”
The Wall Street Journal published a cautionary article on December 28 about a bi-partisan citizen and political revolt against North Carolina’s first P3 tollway. Problems to date include crashes in the construction zone, complicated local trips because of the way cars merge on and off access points, and confusing lane markings, among others. Motorists complain that the tolls are pricey and unpredictable. Local opponents on both sides of the aisle are urging a boycott of the toll lanes.
“Everything about it is bad, from philosophy to pavement,” said Jim Puckett, a Republican who serves on the state transportation department’s local advisory group, who is quoted in the story. The WSJ also reports that he refuses to use the lanes. “It’s a miserable place for a toll road.” The Charlotte-area tollway runs 26 miles and is projected to cost $647 million. In comparison, Governor Hogan’s plan would cover over 70 miles and cost at least $11 billion.
North Carolina politicians who supported the project have been voted out of office, the article says. That’s a message that Maryland officials should keep in mind.
This article should be required reading for everyone interested or involved in Governor Hogan’s proposed I-495 and I-270 P3 program.
(Note: the full article is only available to WSJ subscribers.)
Delegate Marc Korman’s take on taxpayer risk from the proposed P3
Delegate Marc Korman is chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and the Environment in the Maryland General Assembly. He recently posted an important message about the need for honest and critical information about taxpayer risk from the Governor’s proposed plan. The first type of financial risk is the requirement for an up-front public subsidy. The second type of risk is what happens if the project is not completed, does not perform, or the vendor has financial or other issues. Both types of risk have occurred in comparable projects. Read Delegate Korman’s full discussion about P3 taxpayer risks.
Get your friends and neighbors to join our e-mail list
Tell them that this is a great way to stay current on what’s happening with the highway widening project and how they can help fight this boondoggle. Go to https://dontwiden270.org/get-involved to sign up. And check out our website dontwiden270.org for more information. We even have a Spanish language tab where key documents have been translated.
Have a Question or Comment? Want a speaker for your community?
E-mail us at contactdontwiden270@gmail.com .
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