Special Advocacy Workshop: How to Craft Public Comments on the Proposed I-495 & I-270 Expansion

Register now for a free workshop put on by the National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA) with representatives from the Rock Creek Conservancy, Audubon Naturalist Society, Maryland Sierra Club, and Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE). You’ll hear experts explain the environmental impacts of the proposed highway expansions and how to speak out against this project.

Date:  Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Time:  6:00 - 7:30 p.m. (EDT) 

Where:  Online! Webinar link will be provided when you register (Note: Depending on your email provider, you may need to check your spam folder to locate the email.)

Register Now 

Why This Workshop is Important

The state of Maryland’s proposal for a massive four-lane expansion for Interstates 495 and 270 would impact six national park sites, threaten dozens of local and regional parks, and endanger 30 miles of streams, 50 acres of wetlands, and 1,500 acres of forest canopy. 

The project’s recently released Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) sheds light on several of these environmental and community concerns. It’s not too late to voice your opposition and speak up for thoughtful, sustainable traffic solutions. The public comment period is open through November 9.

ACTION ITEMS

Two grass-roots groups, DontWiden270.org and Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE) have come together in a campaign to generate thousands of comments against this misguided project. It’s our best chance to stop this monstrosity. You can help in two ways:

1. Contribute to Our Campaign to Spread the Word

This further outreach can only be done with door hangers and postcards. We need money to print them and buy stamps. Please help! All money raised by this campaign will be used for door hangers or a postcard mailing. To contribute, please go to this CABE PayPal site. 

2. Volunteer to Distribute Door Hangers and/or Address Postcards

To volunteer, send a message to: contactdontwiden270@gmail.com. Please provide your name, address, contact information (e-mail or phone number) and how you might be interested in helping. 

URGENT Action Items

We need your help now to STOP the I-270 – I-495 project that threatens our neighborhoods!

 Join our campaign to generate thousands of comments to State and County officials!

Two grass-roots groups, DontWiden270.org and Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE) have come together in a campaign to generate thousands of comments against this misguided project. It’s our best chance to stop this monstrosity.

This campaign is modeled after the successful 2018 Rockville campaign that generated many hundreds of comments. This time we’re reaching out to a far wider population. And our goal is thousands of comments.

Who we’re trying to impress

There are three groups of people who will watch the number and messages of the comments.

  1. Maryland Department of Transportation  State Highway Administration (MDOT-SHA).

  2. Our County officials – they want to know what their residents think about the situation before they take their official position.

  3. Key state legislators need to know the level of opposition to this boondoggle. 

Why we need a campaign to spread the word

Here is the situation. Both CABE and DW270 have large email lists – and they will be used. But these email lists do not cover nearly all residents who would be impacted. We need to reach as many people as possible. 

This further outreach can only be done with door hangers and postcards and frankly, by feet-on-the-street. And this is where we need your help.

We need you to volunteer and we need your contributions!

This extensive outreach effort will be in two parts. First is to distribute door hangers to as many doors as possible. Second, to help us mail to those neighborhoods where we cannot deliver door hangers.

The door-hanger and postcard efforts will start in mid-September. We have limited time, but we can do it!

Volunteers

We need people who can do the following:

  • Door-hanger distributors: Your job would be to place door hangers along selected streets. We need many such volunteers to reduce mailing costs.

  • Neighborhood organizers: Your job would be to organize the door hanger effort in your neighborhood. You may also recruit door-hanger distributors.

  • List preparers: Your job would be to use County or Municipal lists (public information available from the governmental websites) to help identify where we distribute door hangers and where we mail. 

To volunteer, send a message to the following email address: contactdontwiden270@gmail.com. 

Please provide your name, address, contact information (e-mail or phone number) and how you might be interested in helping. 

Contributions 

It takes money to print door hangers and postcards and buy stamps. What we can do is dictated by the amount of money that is contributed. All money raised by this campaign will be used for door hangers or a postcard mailing.

To contribute, please go to this CABE PayPal site. All contributions must be made through PayPal to CABE. 

Please act now to volunteer and contribute, so DontWiden270.org and CABE can, with your help, conduct this comment-generating campaign for all of us! 

Your Voice, Your Story: Tell MDOT Why the Toll Lane Project Must Stop

Act Now! Oral Comments Close Sept. 10.

This month and next, you can speak directly to the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) leaders and tell them you support the “No-Build Option.” Your oral comments on the project are critical for stopping this disaster, which will significantly damage our environment, our communities, and our pocketbooks without fixing anything.

MDOT recently released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the public-private partnership (P3) project to add four private toll lanes on I-495 and I-270. In fact, the DEIS says northbound traffic on I-270 will get WORSE once the toll lanes south of the ICC are in place.

Your feedback matters!

Public hearings on the DEIS will be held in August and September and written comments will be accepted until October 8th. You may provide both verbal testimony and written comments. This newsletter focuses on presenting verbal testimony. Subsequent newsletters will focus on submitting written comments. 

ACTION ITEM

Give verbal comments/testimony on the DEIS. 

There are four ways to provide your 3-minute testimony:

  • Oral testimony to panelists at a virtual hearing (August 25, Sept. 3).You will need to use your phone to provide testimony at the virtual hearings. Registered participants will be placed in time slots; the queue is first come, first serve. MDOT will send you detailed instructions on how to provide live testimony. Click here to register to give virtual testimony. 

  • Oral testimony to panelists at an in-person hearing (Sept.1 in Largo or Sept. 10 in Rockville). Social distancing protocols will be strictly enforced, including required face coverings, hand sanitizing stations, and limited capacity in the hearing room. Register by calling 833-858-5960.

  • One-on-one oral testimony to a court reporter (Sept.1 in Largo or Sept. 10 in Rockville). Register by calling 833-858-5960. 

  • Leave your testimony by voicemail on the virtual hearing dates (August  25, Sept. 3) from 9 am-8 pm or on the in-person hearings dates (Sept. 1 and Sept. 10) from 12 pm-9 pm. Call 855-432-1483 and press * to hear options.

MDOT will make the hearing transcript available on the Program website at a later date after the hearings have been concluded. 

The Montgomery County Council and County Executive seek public input and have requested that County residents who testify at the hearings send a copy of their testimony to County representatives no later than Monday, Sept. 14. This information will be reviewed by the County to guide development of a detailed County position. County residents can submit testimony to: managed.lanes@montgomerycountymd.gov.  

How to Comment

  1. Introduce yourself. State your name, spell your name, and provide your address slowly and clearly.

  2. You will have just 3 minutes after you have introduced yourself to present verbal testimony and therefore it is best to focus on one to three issues/points about the DEIS that are of particular interest to you. 

  3. It is very important to state upfront that you do not support the project and support a no-build option so that this is clearly on the record. “No-build” is the one MDOT alternative that does not include adding new toll lanes but it does not preclude improvements to I-270 such as those identified in our logo above.

  4. Explain how the proposed expansion project will impact your life and loved ones, particularly if you live near the proposed expansion or have children in affected schools.

  5. Then choose one or more topics and elaborate and customize. The following are key issues of concerns developed by some organizations and agencies that may provide useful information for choosing a topic that is important to you:

  6. Remember: Effective comments are clear, concise, and provide specific examples.

Additional Resources on the DEIS: