TOLL-LANE HIDE AND SEEK

Toll lane policy is supposed to be public policy. The public needs to know how the Moore Administration is advancing its mega-billion-dollar toll lane plan in the midst of significant opposition and economic and environmental uncertainty.

But the public’s need to know keeps running into the Administration’s seeming preference for silence about multiple substantive toll-lane issues. MDOT withholds key information (see examples below) and puts out unclear PR materials and mixed messages. Is lower I-270 in the toll lane plan or out? And why – why? – is MDOT supporting Virginia’s plan to build toll lanes in Prince George’s County, MD?

Take a look below at the updates on these and other toll lane questions and issues we’d like MDOT to talk about publicly in a straight-forward, honest way. Then please follow the easy action item to help spread the word. Thank you!

MDOT signed an alarming toll lane agreement last month – and didn’t tell the MD public or, apparently, our local officials

MDOT’s agreement with the VA Department of Transportation permits VDOT’s private contractor to construct electronic toll lane signs in Montgomery County, and allows VA to initiate acquisition of right of way and relocate utilities in MD (pp. 3-44; maps start on p. 36). The agreement also gives private toll-lane giant Transurban a potential new role in MD: “…all responsibilities and obligations of VDOT allocated herein may be conducted or fulfilled by VDOT’s developer…contractor or agents” (p. 26).

Section 7, in particular, covers requirements that are way out of scope for a signage agreement: tolling and operational systems, overall project design changes, and the obligation of VDOT and MDOT to negotiate a new bi-state agreement for the AL Bridge and I-270.

MDOT has a long way to go to build trust after signing this agreement; at a minimum, they should have given our elected representatives and local officials a heads-up and opportunity to comment, even if that is not required by law. This agreement’s startlingly broad scope leaves doubts and big unanswered questions, including about MDOT’s intentions for the entire I-495/I-270 toll lane project.

Events may complicate MDOT’s application for federal funding

To fund the toll lane project, the Moore administration has applied for two federal grants (here and here) for a total of $3.1 billion, after being denied federal funding last year. But securing these funds is not a sure thing because:

1. The US government has already pledged up to $1.9 billion to replace the Key Bridge and may not award MD any additional billions, including for the American Legion Bridge (which needs repair but not replacement); and

2. The Moore-Hogan toll lane project is once again the subject of a significant legal challenge, namely the May 2024 appeal of findings in the lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the NRDC.

If federal funding fails, the Governor may make the unfortunate choice to go with a for-profit, public-private partnership. That would mean, per MDOT Sec. Wiedefeld, it’s the taxpayers who will pay.

Left – MDOT’s proposed toll lanes (p.19).  Right – VDOT’s proposed toll lanes into MD.

Why won’t MDOT tell us WHY it’s going along with VA’s plan to build toll lanes in Prince George’s County, MD?

VDOT is proposing to build Southside toll lanes across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge into Prince George’s County as far as Oxon Hill. Amazingly, MDOT is still supporting the project, though it has not given a reason, substantive or otherwise. MDOT has not explained why, on the one hand, it has withdrawn its own study of I-495 toll lanes from east of I-270 to the Wilson Bridge (p. 5), while on the other hand supporting the Virginia study to build toll lanes within that same portion of the Maryland Beltway.

The Southside project is bad for Maryland and the region: it would create a new traffic bottleneck at Oxon Hill where the toll lanes terminate, and it would likely end chances of WMATA’s Blue Line eventually crossing the Wilson Bridge.

The Prince George’s County Council has proposed removing the Southside project from the regional Transportation Planning Board’s (TPB’s) long-range plan. TPB members, including MDOT, will vote on the proposal on June 20. Watch the live vote here to see what the TPB and MDOT do.

MDOT’s ultimate mixed messages re: toll lanes on lower & upper I-270

First, lower I-270. At the regional TPB’s May 2024 meeting, MDOT could provide no functional, public-serving reason to impose toll lanes on lower I-270, including through Rockville. MDOT’s own Innovative Congestion Management System has already mitigated congestion on that portion of the highway. MDOT itself told the TPB, “No active design or planning [for this segment] is planned to be advanced by this Administration as we focus on sections to the south and north” (p. 8). Yet MDOT still insisted that construction of toll lanes on lower I-270, with an implementation date of 2045 (which can be changed at any time), be included in the TPB’s long-range plan.

Rockville officials stayed strong. Despite MDOT’s disappointing action, Rockville Mayor Monique Ashton – unanimously supported by City Councilmembers Kate Fulton, Barry Jackson, David Myles, Izola Shaw, Marissa Valeri, and Adam Van Grack – continued the City’s powerful record of evidence-based opposition to the toll lane project and support for transportation alternatives that serve the public’s real needs.

Upper I-270. MDOT’s open house materials from fall 2023 said the following about plans for upper I-270: “A National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) study will be performed to evaluate equitable, environmentally sensitive, and multimodal solutions to address transportation needs.” Sounds good, but in reality, the outcome of the NEPA study of upper I-270 seems already predetermined: toll lanes. That’s what MDOT submitted for inclusion in the regional TPB’s current long-range plan (see p. 38, lines 190-194).

ACTION ITEM: Help spread the word!

Staying current on the Moore-Hogan toll lane plan is a challenge for everyone, particularly the general public not connected to advocacy and grassroots organizations. MDOT’s websites offer the look of news but not the substance or timeliness the public needs. The Washington Post rarely covers toll lane issues. We are grateful to online publications like Maryland Matters – they’re some of our best sources for updates. But overall, our area lacks comprehensive coverage of the toll lane story.

So all of us have to help get the word out to those who aren’t following the issues as closely as we are. Please widely share this newsletter and other relevant outreach you get from Citizens Against Beltway Expansion, the Sierra Club, the Action Committee for Transit, Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, and others.

Make sure people you’re in contact with know that the harmful and inequitable toll lane project is still a priority for the Moore Administration.

ASAP ACTION ALERT + Quick Update

The Washington region’s Transportation Planning Board (TPB for short) is asking the public for feedback on future highway projects, including the Moore-Hogan toll lanes.

• Our input is key: in May, the TPB will vote to include – or not include – the I-495/I-270 and Southside toll lanes in its long-range plan, called Visualize 2050.

• The TPB vote matters because projects like the toll lanes “must be in the TPB plan to receive federal funding and approvals.” MDOT clearly wants a ‘yes’ vote.

• But we and our elected allies are asking the TPB to reject the toll lanes with their $50 tolls, worsening congestion for the majority, increased inequity, taxpayer jeopardy, and enormous environmental harm.

• The deadline to submit feedback to the TPB is March 30, just days away. The Action Item below takes only a few minutes. Please act now!

Source: Visualize 2050

ACTION ITEM

Let the Transportation Planning Board hear your voice! Using the instructions below, open the TPB feedback form and say ‘no’ to three toll lane projects on I-495 and I-270. You’ll be focusing on Tab 3 and then Tab 5 of the form.

Refer to these navigation steps as you go:

• Open the feedback form and click on Tab 3 at the upper right.

• You’ll see a map with light brown balloons indicating toll lane projects (“HOV/HOT/Express Lanes”).

• The three brown balloons you’re going to process one at a time are:
  1) Near Rockville, for the toll lanes from I-270 to I-370;
  2) Near the I-270 Y split for the toll lanes from the I-270 West Spur across the American Legion Bridge to the George Washington Parkway; and
  3) Near Alexandria for the Southside toll lanes going along I-495 over the Wilson Bridge into Maryland as far as Oxon Hill. (For more about the Southside toll lanes see “Virginia’s Eye on MD” here.)

• Click on one of the three brown balloons. In the pop-up box, click NO, you do not support the project. Click on the speech bubble next to the NO box to enter a comment.

• Then repeat with the other brown balloons.

• When you are finished, click on Tab 5, Wrap Up.

• If you wish, answer the optional questions. To add any additional comments, click on the speech bubble at the upper right.

• Click Finish to submit your form.

• Thank you! Please share this Action Item with others.

Quick Update: Lawsuit

• As reported by Maryland Matters last week, “A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit…seeking to block a proposed expansion of the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270.” The judge said the plaintiffs “have not demonstrated that defendants’ actions were arbitrary and capricious.”

• Per Sierra Club of Maryland Director Josh Tulkin, “This is a disappointing outcome…This project comes with real harms to people and the environment, and MDOT and FHWA ignored important aspects of that harm while reviewing the project.”

• The Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the plaintiffs in the case, has said the team “is reviewing the opinion and considering their options.”

• Maryland Matters says, “Even with the ruling, the widening project remains at a standstill….it is not clear how or when the project will proceed.”

• Our coalition of environmental advocacy organizations, civic and grassroots groups, and elected allies is as determined as ever to oppose the inequitable, destructive Moore-Hogan toll lanes. Thank you, always, for being part of the effort.

What are Moore’s REAL plans for I-270/I-495??

It’s time for our governor to tell the public and our elected representatives exactly where the administration is going with its plan for a big “something” based on Larry Hogan’s massively flawed toll lane project. Moore is now asking the General Assembly to approve another $107 million (p. 300) taxpayer dollars for toll lane planning and engineering (separate from the billions eventually needed for construction). We have questions.

What is the administration’s actual project plan? 

• MDOT marketing makes it easy to think the project is mainly about public transit. But public transit accounts for only 3% of the project budget.

• The same marketing makes it easy to shift focus away from toll lanes benefiting only the wealthiest. But MDOT’s application for federal funding (p. 14) makes it clear this is still Hogan’s plan as it was approved in August 2022, with all the inequities and harms intact.

• The administration is not candid about specifics of project scope, design, and implementation. Does or doesn’t the toll lane plan include lower I-270? What would replace the American Legion Bridge (which is not falling down). ­One span? two? How will construction be phased? Which acres of trees, which community sound walls would come down? And on and on and on.

Where will all the money come from?

• The project’s Phase 1 budget (p. 10) is over $4 billion. MDOT’s request for $2.4 billion in federal dollars was turned down this year. MDOT Secretary Wiedefeld threw cold water on public-private-partnership funding: “The reality is taxpayers are still going to pay” (see “Wiedefeld Explains” here). And the state has a serious transportation funding deficit.

• There’s no money for the Moore-Hogan toll lane project now, and no guarantee there will be money next year.

Moore can turn this around by taking action in the public interest.

Right now, our governor faces widespread public, county, and General Assembly dismay over cuts to transportation projects statewide. He also faces growing opposition to the unworkable toll lanes. Instead of diverting $107 million to keep the toll lane plan in a holding pattern for another year, Moore can:

• Remove the $107 million from his budget and use that bucket of funds towards restoring and expanding critical transit/transportation projects across the state.

• Announce the end of this toll lane project as part of a realignment of state transportation policy with Moore’s key administration goals: environmental action, equity, and connecting people with jobs.

• Look to the smart, effective alternatives already on the table for the I-270/I-495 corridor (see here and here and here).

• Prioritize transportation planning and genuine transit alternatives for I-270 North.

• Continue seeking federal funding to repair and redeck (resurface) the American Legion Bridge, rather than unnecessarily replacing it.

Maryland Matters

Action Item

Write to Gov. Moore to urge him to end the Moore-Hogan toll lane plan now, while the General Assembly is considering the new state budget. Ask him to use the $107 million currently designated for toll lane planning/engineering to instead help fund projects that actually meet transportation needs across the state. In your own words, explain why you don’t want the Moore-Hogan plan to move forward. You can find links to an array of ideas and resources in recent DontWiden270.org newsletters.

To take action, click here, select “Transportation” from the dropdown menu, and write your message to Gov. Moore. Thank you.