Special Saturday Edition: Big Changes, 3 Important Meetings, Register for 2

Wow!  There has been a whirlwind of activity around the I-495/I-270 P3 project in the last few weeks -- and even in the last few days. Hear the latest information about the project at these upcoming virtual meetings.

 

June 23 at 7:00 pm

I-495/I-270 P3 Program Briefing for the City of Rockville

Sponsor:  Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA)

Register at least 24 hours in advance here.  

MDOT SHA says this briefing is to inform Rockville officials of the status of the project. According to SHA, the I-495/I-270 P3 team will provide a project overview of the American Legion Bridge I-270 to I-70 Relief Plan with information on the environmental review process, the selected alternative, the selected developer, access points to the new managed lanes, and ongoing traffic studies. We’re hoping the Mayor and Council and their expert staff will have plenty of opportunities to ask tough questions.

 

June 24 at 7:00 pm

Townhall: Urgent Next Steps to Stop I-495/I-270 Toll Lanes Expansion

Sponsors: Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, Dontwiden270.org, CABE, and more

Register at least 24 hours in advance here. 

This virtual townhall will cover the latest developments in the fight to stop the toll lanes and to keep the Board of Public Works from approving the first P3 contract. Its purpose is to spread awareness about the need to continue challenging the highway project. Learn what you can do right now to make a difference. The townhall comes on the heels of this week’s exciting vote by the Capital Region Transportation Planning Board to remove the toll-lane project from its long-range transportation plan.

 

June 29 at 10:00 am

Briefing on the MDOT I-495 I-270 P3 Project

Sponsor: Maryland House and Senate Transportation and Environment Subcommittees

This hearing will be livestreamed here at 10:00 am or listen after the briefing here. Click on the video camera icon. Registration is not necessary for this hearing.

This is a special  joint hearing convened by Marc Korman, Chair of the Transportation and  Environment Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee and Cory McCray, Chair of the Public Safety, Transportation, and Environment Subcommittee of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. This hearing will include testimonies by elected officials and the public but no voting. The General Assembly is not in session.

 

 

 

 

 

An Urgent Call to Action – Stop the Toll-Highway P3 Boondoggle

Join the Rally to Stop the P3 Boondoggle

 

When:  Tuesday, June 8 at 12:00 noon

 

In spite of intense opposition by the neighborhoods and communities that will feel its sharpest impact, the State is pushing ahead with a vote next Tuesday to approve a contract for the I-495/I-270 toll lane widening plan — the first step in their march toward final approval of this misguided project. In our relentless opposition over the past three years, we’ve already won the war of words.

Now it’s time for each of us to stand up, turn out, and make our voices heard. As we head toward the 2022 election, our local and State leaders need to see and hear us. They need to know that stopping this threat is an urgent priority for action, and that we expect their help and support in defeating this fatally-flawed scheme.

That’s why we’re organizing a massive protest on Tuesday at noon at the project’s epicenter. The time is now. This is one of those moments when protecting our quality of life perfectly aligns with defeating bad government policy. Our success depends on you. Join us on Tuesday!

 

Where:  First Baptist Church Rockville

       55 Adclare Road, Rockville 20850

 

Driving directions:  From I-270, take Exit 6 East toward Rockville. Make the first right onto Adclare Road. Park all the way closest to the hill, as directed.

 

The rally will be outdoors.

 

 

 

The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Vote

 

With less than 4 days notice, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) called an emergency session of the MDTA to vote on approving a contract for private toll lanes on I-270 and the Beltway under a public-private partnership (P3). The vote will be held on Tuesday morning, June 8th. 

 

There has been a lack of transparency with the public and affected local governments on this P3, which would be in effect for 50 years. 

 

Our statewide coalition of allies and organizations opposing the P3 have told the MDTA to delay their vote on any toll-lane contract until the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) is completed. The FEIS needs to be finalized and available for public review before any contracts are awarded by the State.

We shouldn’t allow the MDTA's vote to go unchallenged! We’re asking you to come out and join us at our rally on Tuesday at Noon. That’s the most important thing you can do now that will have the greatest impact.

 

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MDOT Suddenly Changes the “Preferred Alternative” for Toll Lanes

MDOT Reveals a “New” Plan, and Toll Setting Gets Started

 

Back on January 27, 2021, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) disclosed that they had selected Alternative 9 from among the build options as their preferred alternative for widening I-495 and I-270.  Alternative 9 was a high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes network that added two HOT- managed lanes in each direction on I-495 and I-270.

Then, less than 4 months later, on May 12th, MDOT announced that their recommended preferred alternative (RPA) would now consist of only Phase 1 South. The new RPA focuses solely on building a new American Legion Bridge (ALB) and creating two HOT lanes in each direction on the ALB and I-270 to I-370. On I-270, the RPA proposes adding one HOT- managed lane and converting the existing high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane into an HOT- managed lane. There will be no action at this time on I-495 east of the I-270 eastern spur. Find out what’s wrong with MDOT’s latest RPA in the sections below on Phase 1 South, Cost Concerns, and More Highway Widening.

The Phase 1 South toll rate range setting process was presented to the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Board on May 20, 2021. The meeting video can be played here; the Phase 1 range setting process discussion begins at 2:07:00. Relevant meeting documents can be found in tabs 11-12 (pp. 60-154) and the MDTA press release. The MDTA Board voted to move forward with the process, including public hearings on the tolling proposal. Written public comments and call-in testimony will be accepted for the official record from May 20 through August 12, 2021. Dontwiden270.org will provide further information when it becomes available.

 

Action Item

Your emails and letters to public officials and others about widening I-270 and I-495 have been powerful and had considerable impact. Thanks to all of you who wrote to the Metropolitan Washington Transportation Planning Board (TPB) as requested in the Urgent Action Alert in our last newsletter. Your comments led the TPB to ask the Federal authorities for a 6 month extension to allow more time to study the complex issues involved.

Please continue to write and phone and keep the pressure on key people and agencies to stop this poorly conceived project.

 

If you haven’t already done so, write Comptroller Peter Franchot care of Emily Gontrum at egontrum@marylandtaxes.gov and/or call Comptroller Franchot at 301-332-1961 and leave a voice mail or text. Comptroller Franchot is the deciding vote when the Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW) votes on contracts associated with the P3 project. He is running for Governor. Tell him that no P3 agreement should be voted on until the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) is completed. And be sure to say that if the project is approved, Maryland taxpayers could be stuck with hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses and future costs.

 

New Recommended Preferred Alternative for Phase 1 South

The new RPA focuses solely on a new ALB and two HOT-managed lanes in each direction on the ALB and I-270 to I-370. I-495 east of I-270 is off the table for now; however, MDOT has made clear that “the RPA does not suggest that improvements will not be needed on the top side and east side of I-495. If the new RPA is selected at the conclusion of the Managed Lane Study, consideration of improvements to remaining parts of the interstate system would advance separately…”

 

The project has been scaled back. But as eloquently expressed in a Sierra Club Statement: “This project is fundamentally flawed and has been from the start. Now it is a smaller flawed proposal.” This P3 is an environmental, financial, socio-economic, and drivers’ nightmare. There will be years of noise and pollution during construction of the new lanes. The project will cause enormous harm to affected communities and gridlock on local roads as people make their way to and from the new toll entrances.   

 

The tolls will be unaffordable for the vast majority of drivers, leading to increased congestion in the free lanes. In fact, there will be fewer free lanes since the current 2-person HOV lanes on I-270, which are restricted for only 3 hours per day Monday-Friday and always free, will be converted to HOT–managed lanes at all times. Importantly, this project will not reduce regional traffic congestion. Effective traffic planning requires a multimodal transportation plan with transit options.

bottleneck.jpg

Bottlenecks

Not only will there be continued gridlock at key traffic choke points, but as shown in the graphic, there will be two major bottlenecks that will create massive traffic jams. The plan changes the locations of traffic congestion rather than alleviating them. There will be a new bottleneck where the new I-270 toll lanes merge into the unchanged I-495 lanes.

 

The project will also increase congestion at the current bottleneck on northbound I-270 caused by the highway’s progressive narrowing to just two lanes. The toll lanes will add even more vehicles to the narrowing highway heading north. If the proposed project does not simultaneously address transportation up to Frederick, it will create a traffic nightmare. Widening just the southern part of I-270 will make traffic worse on the northern part.

 

Environmental Issues

MDOT must revise the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which was published in July 2020, and reopen a public comment period since the project has changed considerably. The new supplemental DEIS will only have a 45-day public comment period; the initial DEIS had a 120-day comment period. However, this provides an opportunity to address remaining environmental issues. This project promotes the opposite of what is necessary to tackle climate change. It will destroy well-established green buffers, which help clean the air and reduce noise, and will create serious stormwater runoff problems. MDOT plans to issue a supplemental DEIS in late summer 2021 and an FEIS by spring 2022.

 

Cost Concerns

Building with a P3 is more expensive in the long run than conventional financing. Toll revenues, which could be going to the State, will go to private investors for 50 years. Infrastructure improvements would produce a greater return on investment for taxpayers if delivered without profits for outside investors. According to In the Public Interest, corporate profits, dividends, and income taxes can add 20 to 30 percent to operation and maintenance costs of privatized infrastructure. Moreover, Maryland taxpayers are likely to be required to subsidize the private contractor for construction funding shortfalls and operational deficits. Rockville will bear huge expenses for upgrading the stormwater management system to handle more runoff.

 

 

More Highway Widening

The new RPA will lead to worsening of already bad bottlenecks and add pressure to complete the Beltway expansion. Future phases are still an option and more contracts may evolve to widen I-495 as originally planned. Any P3 on I-270 will create pressure to execute a P3 on the Beltway. Plans for expanding I-270 north of I-370 are still underway and a DEIS is in progress. There is huge opposition to what’s left of the disastrous project.

This P3 must be stopped in its entirety.

 

 

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