Action Alert: Don’t Let Moore Mislead the Public

Governor Moore, like Larry Hogan before him, is trying to hide the truth about the toll lanes. We know the Moore administration is pushing Hogan’s plan. The proof is in MDOT’s recent 66-page federal grant application for taxpayer funds for the project. The application frequently refers to tolls.

But Moore’s high-profile public outreach on the project never mentions tolls. Not in the original press release, not on MDOT’s project webpage, not in the announcement of open houses (see Action Alert below).

 

This matters.

  • The public has a federally mandated right to be truthfully informed about a multi-billion-dollar behemoth that will negatively impact our state for generations.

  • The public elected this Democratic governor on his promises of transparency, substantive stakeholder engagement, true fiscal and environmental stewardship, and attention to equity and the public’s real transportation needs.

 

What the public has gotten instead – what Moore apparently feels he can get away with – is his Republican predecessor’s flawed plan, disguised with marketing that confuses and misleads. Sort-of promises of something for everyone. Sort-of promises of (unfunded) public transit to be delivered someday, somehow. Nothing about the toll lanes.

This is not what Marylanders need; this is not what we voted for. We have to tell our governor to level with the public and reset/refocus on transportation in the public interest.

From Maryland Matters, 10/23/23

IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT

 

Please do everything you can to attend one of MDOT's project-related open houses! The Moore administration must see and hear the extensive opposition to this project. Tell MDOT in person that you did not want Hogan’s plan and you don’t want Moore’s copy of it.

 

Here are the open house details (also see “Not-So-Open Open Houses” below):

  • Monday, November 13, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, 4301 East-West Highway, Bethesda.

  • Wednesday, November 15, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., DoubleTree Hotel, 620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg.

  • Thursday, November 16, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Frederick High School, 650 Carroll Parkway, Frederick.

  • Saturday, December 2, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Thomas S. Wootton High School, 2100 Wootton Parkway, Rockville.

 

We urge you to come and make your voice heard. Spread the word. Bring friends and neighbors with you. See DontWiden270.org’s recent newsletters and this Maryland Matters analysis for talking points, effective alternatives to toll lanes, and much more.

 

 

Not-So-Open Open Houses

 

MDOT says its purpose in holding open houses is to “…engage the public on the American Legion Bridge and 270 Corridor Program and gather community feedback as the program advances.” But, per MDOT, “There will not be a formal presentation.” Which means there will not be a public Q&A session. Our broad coalition of advocacy groups is currently asking MDOT to include presentations and Q&As at each event.

 

MDOT’s plan is to have attendees go to “stations” in a school cafeteria or similar space to look at information and talk to whoever is working the table. Such stations will be frustratingly familiar to anyone at Hogan’s 2018 and 2019 toll lane workshops. But Hogan’s events did begin with presentations and Q&As so attendees had at least some sense of what was coming.

 

Please put an open house on your calendar today. Thank you!

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.