Quick Update: 26,000 Pages; A Town Hall You Don’t Want to Miss

Sign up today for virtual town hall meeting on toll-lane news

As MDOT rushes to get its toll-lane scheme approved by the federal government, we need to stay informed about the moving pieces of this harmful plan. To that end, our valued partner, Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE), is hosting a virtual town hall meeting on recent project developments. When: Monday, June 27, at 7 p.m.

Sign up to hear what these speakers have to tell us:

  • Will Jawando, Montgomery County Councilmember

  • Debra Borden, Principal Counsel for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

  • Kyle Hart, with the National Parks Conservation Association

Questions? Contact CABE at 495CABE@gmail.com or visit the CABE website.

We knew it was coming: MDOT gives public 30 days to read 26,000+ pages!

Last Friday, MDOT issued the toll-lane project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). It’s massive; it contains information not previously released to the public. If MDOT has its way, the federal government will issue its final decision on the FEIS and toll-lane project in a month or so. But not so fast, MDOT.

State and local officials and advocacy groups have already called on the U.S. government to require MDOT to redo parts of the environmental review and provide an additional public comment period. Requests have gone to USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, asking for an extension of the FEIS review period and an opportunity for the public to meaningfully engage with information being publicly presented for the first time. And the Sierra Club, on behalf of multiple advocacy and grassroots organizations, is coordinating a technical and legal review of the FEIS by subject matter experts.

Watch for updates about the FEIS and more

We’ll keep you posted about what’s in those 26,000 pages, and about timelines and actions you can take. We’ll also send you updates about the elections. Keep checking Maryland Matters for election news, and see our most recent newsletter for tables of candidate positions on the toll-lane plan.

Key Project Weak Point Revealed in WP’s Latest You’ve-Got-to-Be-Kidding Editorial

This house of cards may be about to collapse. The Washington Post’s 18th editorial touting Larry Hogan’s toll lanes (you have to see the list** to believe it) makes one thing clear. The Governor’s toxic plan will go nowhere unless Maryland elects a new governor who supports it. And the Post shows why that is far from a sure thing.

 

Per the editorial: “Among the 10 candidates running in the gubernatorial primary July 19, most either don’t mention [the toll-lane plan] or are opposed.”

 

We can explain that lack of support.

 

  1. Voters don’t like sky-high tolls, induced congestion, and 50 years of taxpayer subsidies to a profit-driven toll giant.

  2. Smart candidates understand what Governor Youngkin meant by: “Yes, we’re going to take jobs from Maryland into Virginia…And yes, Gov. Hogan, we need you to finish your side of this project.”

  3. Smart candidates don’t want to own the bad deal while Larry Hogan moves on.

 

The Post finds only one “notable exception” to the lack of candidate commitment to the worthless project: “Peter Franchot, who voted for it on the state’s Board of Public Works.” Strikingly, neither here, nor in the editorial endorsing Tom Perez, does the Post have anything more to say about Mr. Franchot’s candidacy.

 

The power to stop this toll-lane plan quickly and efficiently, is clearly in the voters’ hands. With low turnout expected and a crowded gubernatorial field, every vote counts.

 

Read on for election Action Items and position tables. Then see a close up (literally) of what toll lane proponents really intend for us. You’ll also find a preview of MDOT’s next rushed move and what our coalition is doing about it.

 

** Thank you to the Maryland Transportation Opportunities Coalition for the list of 18 Washington Post editorials pushing Gov. Hogan’s plan.

 

 

Action Items

 

Gubernatorial Primary

 

Just a few thousand votes could determine the winner of the Democratic gubernatorial primary on July 19 (early voting July 7-14). The highest vote getter wins, even if he only receives 20% of the vote. With nine people currently in the race and limited independent polling, it’s difficult to know at this point which of the candidates on our side has the best chance.

 

Please note: This is NOT single-issue politics. Larry Hogan’s plan would impact every aspect of our public lives. A candidate who rejects the harmful project signals support for fiscal and environmental responsibility, transparency, economic fairness, healthy communities, and protection of the public interest.

 

According to a Baltimore Sun/University of Baltimore poll from early June (also reported on in Maryland Matters), only three candidates were polling in the double digits: Peter Franchot at 20%; Wes Moore at 15%; Tom Perez at 12%, with a margin of error of 4.7%; over a third of Democrats were undecided.

 

Because there will likely be a lot of movement in the race before voting begins, we need to stay informed:

 

Below is our revised table for top Democratic gubernatorial candidates: Rushern Baker has stepped out of the race; we’ve added notes about Wes Moore. The input for our tables comes from the three organizations listed above and other trusted sources.

 

 * In some settings, Mr. Moore has opposed the toll lane project. But the 8-page transportation platform on his campaign website does not refer to the project or his position.

 

Comptroller, County Executive, and At-Large County Council Primaries

 

What applies for gubernatorial candidates, applies here, too: Any candidate who supports the toll lane plan signals support for the harms that come with it.

 

The following tables are compiled from the sources listed above.

 

THIS is What Toll Lane Proponents Have Planned for Us

 

When Comptroller Peter Franchot cast the deciding vote in 2021 in favor of the toll lane agreement – without insisting on legal and financial analyses – he cast the deciding vote for a world of hurt.

 

Here is one example of what we’re in for if the plan is ever implemented. This pic was taken by MD resident Marsha Bond, heading north on I-495 in VA past the Dulles toll road exit, 6:55 pm on 5/17/22 (focus added). The highway design is the same chosen for MD’s toll lane project.

 


 

 

Note all the congestion in the free lanes. Big rigs and family vehicles jammed together – a known recipe for accidents (p. 83). No inside shoulder for the free lanes (that shoulder was appropriated for the toll lanes). The high-priced toll lanes? Nobody's using them.

Share this pic with anyone claiming the I-270/I-495 plan will provide, as MDOT says, “congestion relief for all.”

 

 

MDOT – on Self-Imposed, Breakneck Schedule – Will Release Project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on June 17

 

  • MDOT is scrambling to get the toll-lane project approved by the U.S. government and a construction contract OK’d by the Board of Public Works before Larry Hogan leaves office.

  • To that end, MDOT is about to release its ready-or-not FEIS.

  • The federally-mandated FEIS is supposed to be a complete assessment of the project’s impacts on the natural and human environment, including extensive analyses and mitigation plans.

  • The FEIS is supposed to respond to the 5,000 comments MDOT received during the two previous public comment periods. The comments came from government officials, public agencies, technical and legal experts, and many of you.

  • The previous drafts of the EIS were deficient and inaccurate in multiple dimensions.

  • Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, the Rockville Mayor and Council, Prince George’s County mayors, more than 80 members of the General Assembly and a broad coalition of advocacy and grassroots organizations have called on the U.S. government to require MDOT to redo parts of the environmental review and provide an additional public comment period.

  • Read the letter from Rockville Mayor Newton and Councilmembers Ashton, Miles, Feinberg and Pierzchala to USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

  • DontWiden270.org will keep you updated on the FEIS and USDOT response.

We’ve Got the Facts, Grit & Momentum; Time to Double Down!

Gov. Hogan, MDOT, and the forces pushing private toll lanes have money and power. They also have an unfixable problem: they can’t make an honest case for the project without having the whole house of cards collapse.

The State is now rushing to finalize the toll-lane scheme before the 2022 elections. The CEO of toll-giant Transurban recently admitted that the I-495/I-270 project faces "quite a few issues", and it's uncertain if the deal can close before Hogan leaves office.

This is the time for our coalition – grassroots groups, allied elected officials, and thousands of activists like you – to double down on our efforts to stop MDOT’s dangerous plans.

We KNOW what we’re fighting for and what Hogan & Co. are trying to take from us:

  • The right to State transportation policies that improve our lives, not make them immeasurably worse.

  • The right to travel on our own highways, the ones built by our own tax dollars, without paying/subsidizing an international conglomerate focused only on profits.

What we do and who we elect in the coming months can make all the difference.

Read below for important election actions, timeline updates, and the latest MDOT misfires (hide-and-seek for 30 months?). Then take a welcome look at how much all of us together have accomplished in the past 2 months. Inspiring!

From Maryland Matters, 4/22/22

ACTION ALERT: Help elect primary candidates who oppose the toll lanes…and can win in November

Primary Election for Governor

Our next governor could stop the toll-lane project (or, if the election goes badly, push it ahead). Do all you can, starting now, to help elect a Democratic nominee who unambiguously opposes the toll lanes AND can win on November 8.

This is not advocating for a “single-issue” vote. Any candidate who actively or passively supports the toll-lane project also supports what goes with it:

On May 1, the Baltimore Sun tentatively named these four as the leading Democratic candidates: Peter Franchot (the founding toll-lane cheerleader), Rushern Baker, Wes Moore, and Tom Perez.

DontWiden270.org created a shorthand table of the positions of these four based on their responses to the Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition’s valuable gubernatorial questionnaire (read all the candidates’ full-text responses here) and other sources.

Note: Regarding Hedges column above, please see here.

ASAP, start supporting a candidate who fully opposes the toll lanes!

Primary Election for Montgomery County Executive

What applies for gubernatorial candidates applies here, too: if candidates support the toll lanes, they support that long list (above) of dreadful positions intrinsically tied to the project.

Despite what you may have heard or read about head-scratching endorsements for Montgomery County Executive, the toll-lane positions of the three leading candidates couldn’t be clearer. Please note: Easily-countered endorsements, frustrating though they may be, are off to the side compared to our big-picture need to work together to defeat the toll-lane debacle.

County Executive Marc Elrich has forcefully opposed the toll lane plan since 2018, and consistently champions fair, effective alternatives. Read his March 10, 2022, letter to the Federal Highway Administration.

Hans Reimer is a self-proclaimed supporter of the toll lanes: “…tolling and congestion pricing are the right way to limit sprawl and pay for highway capacity.”

David Blair is on record supporting the toll-lane project. See his response to the 2022 Washington Area Bicyclist Association questionnaire.

What’s (possibly) ahead

  • June 2022: Expected issuance of MDOT’s final, federally-mandated Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). Note: Transurban, the conglomerate with the toll-lane contract, was tasked with “helping” MDOT with the EIS process.

  • July 2022: Expected release of the US Department of Transportation’s Record of Decision on the project. (If you haven’t already done so, please click here to encourage our Congressional delegation and USDOT to end the project.)

  • July 19: Critically important primary election.

  • Summer-Fall 2022: Possible next stages of ongoing lawsuit filed by a losing bidder for the MDOT toll-lane contract.

  • November 8: Critically important general election.

  • Fall-Winter 2022: Possible filing of lawsuits by the Sierra Club of Maryland and others.

From Maryland Matters, April 20, 2022. Could that poster be the Capital Accord?

The toll-lane forces (try to) strike again…

  • Remember that Capital Beltway Accord, the one currently directing MDOT and VDOT action? It’s been 30 months since the handshake between Governors Hogan and Northam and the public still hasn’t seen the document. Depending on who Maryland Matters asked, the Accord either is missing, hidden, never finished, “moving down the track”, or “does not exist.” Then there’s MDOT’s predictable response: “…disclosure of these records would be contrary to the public interest.”

  • MDOT sent the public yet another email blast of false assurances from the I-495/I-270 P3 Office. See Arthur Katz’s astute take in Maryland Matters.

  • George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis released a study hailing the economic benefits of Transurban’s toll-lane expansion into Maryland. Guess who provided financial and material support for the Center’s research. Yes. Transurban.

Together, we keep countering MDOT’s tactics!

  • By the May 1 deadline, more than 400 of you sent messages to the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) opposing MDOT’s sneak attempt to add the Beltway to the toll-lane plan. That was a tremendous action response -- thank you!

  • Our strong allies in Rockville, Mayor Newton and Council Members Ashton, Feinberg, Myles, and Pierzchala, sent this powerful letter to the TPB.

  • Our longtime advocate and ally, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, sent the Federal Highway Administration this recent accounting of the County’s pressing, unaddressed concerns about the toll-lane project.

  • Many of you sent messages in April to our U.S. Congressional delegation, urging them to call for a redo of MDOT’s faulty environmental review. Thank you!