The Out-Sized Importance of Being at MDOT’s 12/2 Rockville Open House

MDOT’s final open house is a not-to-be-missed in-person opportunity to urge MDOT to end the toll lane plan and take a fresh look at regional transportation needs. The Moore Administration says they want our input. Come and make your voice heard. Bring others with you. Show MDOT that opposition to the toll lanes is strong, determined, and growing.

MDOT Open House 
Saturday, December 2, 10:00 am to 12 noon
Wootton High School, Cafeteria
2100 Wootton Parkway, Rockville

Know before you go:

  • Despite shiny repackaging, what the Moore Administration is pushing is Larry Hogan’s toll lane plan. MDOT’s federal grant application makes that clear.

  • Those good-idea public transit displays you’ll see in the Wootton cafeteria? They amount to unfunded distractions, since only 3% of the project’s budget is for public transit. Per a new Maryland Matters article, “…bus rapid transit on parallel routes or expanded commuter train service would come later, if at all.”

  • The toll lane plan would not relieve congestion except for the wealthiest few. The vast majority of us would experience increased bottlenecks, increased congestion and decreased safety.

  • The toll lane plan would “deepen racial and economic disparities” and cause great and lasting environmental and human health harm. 

MDOT Open House. Maryland Matters, 11/21/23

Message to MDOT:  Don’t impose this project on an unwilling public

The more the public learns about the toll lane plan, the more the public rejects it. A Washington Post poll showed majorities in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties oppose the project. An October 2023 letter to MDOT’s Secretary from the Prince George’s County Council rejected the toll lanes in favor of a multi-modal transportation network. The Frederick News-Post reported this month that State Delegate Kris Fair, “who sits on the Transportation Planning Board of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, said he’s heard a lot of ‘discomfort’ from constituents about the idea of managed lanes that would provide traffic relief for people who could afford them, but not for others.”

 

Tell MDOT what you think, then submit written comments

You’ll find MDOT questionnaires at the Wootton open house. Fill them out in whatever way best expresses your true opposition to the toll lanes. You can also provide comments online. Click here for the open house questionnaire. To submit free-form comments, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page for the form.

Take Action: Go to an MDOT Open House, Say ‘No’ to Toll Lanes

It’s a big week for MDOT and the public.

MDOT is holding four open houses – three of them this week – to “engage the public on the American Legion Bridge and 270 Corridor Program and gather community feedback.” We urge you to go and let the Moore Administration know you strongly oppose the toll lane plan and support smart, equitable, sustainable alternatives. For key talking points, see DontWiden270.org's recent newsletters and this Maryland Matters analysis. For tips on expressing opposition at MDOT’s open houses, see the latest newsletter from our valued partner CABE.

Open house details:

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

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

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

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

Know going in: MDOT chose not to give presentations at the open houses and, therefore, not to hold Q&A sessions. Instead, you’ll find stations run by members of MDOT’s team.

  • Ask them pointed questions.

  • Tell them you oppose the toll lane plan, including any form of public-private partnership (P3) financing.

  • Fill out the open house comment form.

 You can preview MDOT’s meeting materials here. Note they barely address the toll lanes that are at the center of the Moore Administration’s plan.

Please attend an open house and make your voice heard. And please spread the word to others. Thank you!

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!