Top 10 Ways Toll-Lane Plan Harms Moore Administration

We knew former Governor Hogan’s toll lane scheme would harm whatever part of the public good it touched. Now we know, sadly, that the harm extends to the new administration, where Governor Moore’s support for the project undercuts his own goals and initiatives.

In championing Hogan’s plan, Governor Moore finds himself:

  1. Promoting an inequitable plan that would “deepen racial and economic disparities.”

  2. Undermining his own administration’s world class climate goals.

  3. Throwing good taxpayer resources after bad, and at a time of looming budget shortfall.

  4. Pushing a “solution” that relocates VA’s bottleneck to MD; failing to tell those along upper I-270 that the plan will worsen the northern bottleneck.

  5. Squandering public trust by relying on secrecy, misdirection, and deception.

  6. Moving ahead despite adverse impacts on an historic African American cemetery.

  7. Forcing toll lanes on counties that don’t want them, with no public benefit.

  8. Refusing, like Hogan, to publicly release the Maryland/Virginia toll lane agreements.

  9. Failing, like Hogan, to give weight to the expert analyses in the lawsuit and public comments.

  10. Looking backwards for transportation ideas instead of forward to meet real needs.

From Washington Post, 9/28/23

ACTION ITEM: Tell Governor Moore to change course now

If our Governor means to keep the promises he made to Marylanders about equity, climate action, and transparency, he can't continue with Hogan's toll lane scheme. He has to take a fresh look and consider the full array of effective, equitable alternatives (see here and here and here).

 

Send the Governor a message today urging him to realign his transportation policy with his stated values and the public interest. Use the the Sierra Club’s simple “AddUp” tool. Just click here. Then add your own note to the top of the form – or simply send the prepopulated message – and click ‘Send.” Thank you for taking action.

Support our Valued Partner

 While DontWiden270.org does not accept donations, we encourage our readers to support the fundraising efforts of our most valued partners. The Action Committee for Transit (ACT), part of the Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition (MTOC), is a key part of efforts to stop the toll lane project in favor of smart, effective alternatives. Please click here to read about ACT, its activities and events, and please consider joining or donating to this worthy organization

 

Moore OKs Toll Lanes on 495 & Spur. Our First Take!

Our Governor is in the process of making a very bad choice. He’s picking up Larry Hogan’s backward-looking behemoth of a plan and saying, in effect, this is the best the Moore administration can come up with for our MD-DC corridor. Unwanted, unworkable toll lanes.

Here’s what we know:

  • The Governor is applying for a federal grant (taxpayer money) to help fund Phase 1 of MDOT-built toll lanes. The grant program is highly competitive, and the project’s many deficiencies may lessen the state’s chances.

  • Per MDOT, Phase 1 will go from the GW Parkway in Virginia (why is MD building toll lanes in VA?), across the bridge and up I-495 and the I-270 West Spur, ending north of a to-be-built interchange at Westlake Drive. (See the map below, which also shows toll lanes on a section to the east.)

  • Lower I-270 may get toll lanes as part of a later phase.

  • Upper I-270 may get who knows what as part of a later, later phase.

  • The Governor’s grant application “does not preclude a public-private partnership model favored by former Gov. Larry Hogan.”

  • The project still faces the strong lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club, National Resources Defense Council, and historic preservation groups.

  • If the project does go forward – and that is far from a given – it would be years before Phase 1 construction could begin.

Scope of New Phase 1 Proposal for Managed Lanes [toll lanes]

From MDOT Grant Application Project Description, p. 3; Maryland State Highway Administration

This can’t be the legacy our Governor wants

  • We are in a climate crisis. Chasms between the wealthiest and the rest intensify inequity, and there are huge shifts in how and where people work.

  • The toll lane plan would cement inequity, exacerbate the climate emergency, ignore future workforce needs, and tie up state resources and transportation policy for generations. All for a project that, for the vast majority, can’t possibly work.

  • The public will not thank Gov. Moore or the elected officials who support him in this plan.

  • Already the Governor, like Hogan before him, has had to disguise the truth of what he’s proposing. Only a few days ago, MDOT rolled out the toll lane project with a statement that did not include the word “toll.” MDOT’s press blitz falsely portrayed the toll lanes as some kind of public transit bonanza.

The Governor can change his mind

  • Many, many effective, forward-looking alternatives to toll lanes are on the table right now. See here and here and here. They would reduce congestion singly or in combination without harming the public and the environment.

  • If Montgomery County officials hear from large numbers of their constituents, they are more likely to urge the Governor to adopt alternatives instead of the toll lanes. Councilmember Kate Stewart has already issued a powerful statement.

  • A vast army of advocates, activists, allied elected officials -- and virtually all Marylanders who newly learn the true dimensions of the Governor's bad choice -- will not stop until the toll lane scheme is cancelled.

 

Take Action Now

 

This is the beginning of our latest push to convince the Governor and local elected officials to pivot from Hogan’s toll lane plan to effective alternatives. Spread the word. Tell everyone you know to click on this link from Citizens Against Beltway Expansion. Use the prepopulated message or your own words to tell the Montgomery County Council to reach out to Moore now.

 Thank you to all who have sent messages before. Keep going – numbers matter! More action items coming soon.

Quick Action Alert: Urge MoCo Councilmembers to Speak Toll-Lane Truth to Moore

We face the looming possibility that our new Governor will support some version of his predecessor's dangerous, backward-looking toll lane scheme.

We’re actively calling on our Montgomery County Councilmembers to write to Gov. Moore and urge him to halt the scheme in favor of the many better alternatives.

The time for our Councilmembers to act is now, before the Governor approves a toll lane plan.

Quick Action

Our valued partner Citizens Against Beltway Expansion has created a tool for messaging the County Council.

Click on CABE’s link here to urge Councilmembers to tell Moore the toll lane project must be cancelled in favor of equitable, workable, environmentally sustainable alternatives.

 Send the prepopulated message, customize it, or use your own words entirely. For inspiration, see this powerful new article in Maryland Matters.

Thank you for taking action!