Sun coverage: The Intercounty Connector

November 2, 2009

GETTING THERE

ICC was always intended to exclude most people

There wasn't much public in the public hearing held by the Maryland Transportation Authority last week in Beltsville on its proposed tolls on the just-around-the-corner Intercounty Connector.

October 27, 2009

MTA to hold two hearings this week on ICC toll plan

The Maryland Transportation Authority will hold the first of two public hearings on its toll plan for the Intercounty Connector from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Beltsville. The hearing at High Point High School, 3601 Powder Mill Road (Route 212), is the closer to Baltimore of the two hearings. The other will be held during the same hours Thursday at Shady Grove Middle School, 8100 Midcounty Highway in Gaithersburg. Under the plan, motorists driving passenger vehicles could be charged as much as 35 cents a mile during peak driving times and up to 30 cents a mile for off-peak trips. That means a trip along the full length of the ICC could cost about $6 each way.

September 28, 2009

GETTING THERE

Hearings offer good forum to air details of ICC tolls

In 2005, foes of the Intercounty Connector raised a little hell about the Ehrlich administration's plans to build the long-delayed highway as a toll road - estimating that a daily end-to-end commuter might face up to $1,500 a year in tolls.

September 25, 2009

Usage will gauge ICC toll

Motorists and their advocates in Maryland say those who drive will decide if the tolls on the new Intercounty Connector are acceptable by using - or not using - the new roadway.

September 24, 2009

GETTING THERE

MTA unveils toll plan for Intercounty Connector

The Maryland Transportation Authority has unveiled a toll plan for the Intercounty Connector under which passenger vehicles would pay as much as 35 cents a mile for travel on the highway when its first phase opens next year.

August 19, 2009

ICC construction to disrupt I-95 traffic

Night travel between Baltimore and Washington will be slowed over the next few months as work crews close lanes, shift traffic patterns and erect structural steel to build the interchange linking Interstate 95 to the new Intercounty Connector.

August 3, 2009

GETTING THERE

ICC has lots going for it

For many decades, the Maryland environmental movement has hated the Inter-county Connector with a blinding passion. It was environmentalists' worst nightmare, and the symbol of all that was short-sighted, backward and crassly commercial. They fought the highway proposal in the county councils, at the polls and in the General Assembly and the courts. They almost had it killed in the 1990s, but like a movie zombie it wouldn't stay dead. The opponents finally lost on all counts, and the 18-mile toll road in suburban Washington is now well on its way to completion.

November 18, 2008

State settles lawsuit challenging the ICC

Maryland has settled a lawsuit with an environmental group that challenged construction of the Intercounty Connector. The Environmental Defense Fund says the state has agreed to invest $2 million to help offset air pollution generated by the 18-mile highway through the Washington suburbs. The State Highway Administration will use the money to reduce air pollution from school buses in Montgomery and Prince George's counties. Equipment also will be installed to monitor how soot from traffic affects the health of those who live or work near the region's highways. In exchange, the Environmental Defense Fund agreed to withdraw its appeal of a federal court ruling that allowed construction of the highway to proceed.

December 28, 2005

Planned ICC tolls too high, foes say

A proposed east-west highway through the Washington suburbs would cost up to $1,500 a year in tolls for a daily rush-hour commuter, making the road too costly for many middle-income Marylanders to use, opponents of the project said yesterday.

October 26, 2005

High-tech tolls envisioned for ICC

Imagine driving from Washington to Delaware without stopping. No fishing through pockets or purses for that last quarter to make $2 for the tunnel. No backup at Exit 109, listening to horns blaring as you almost lose your life cutting off that 18-wheeler in the E-ZPass lane.

July 15, 2005

Sun Q&A

Michael Dresser on the chosen ICC route

William Billiet, Baltimore: I have heard much criticism saying the ICC will not alleviate traffic. I was wondering what the basis for this argument is, if any?

July 12, 2005

ICC path to follow southern route plan

The Inter-County Connector will be built along a southerly route that state and local officials have backed for decades, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced yesterday, a decision that minimizes the number of homes that will be razed but which federal officials have warned would cause greater environmental disruption than a northern path.

March 17, 2005

ICC financing plan runs into Assembly snag

The Ehrlich administration's plan for financing construction of the Intercounty Connector highway is in trouble in the General Assembly, with leading legislators questioning its heavy reliance on borrowing.

March 3, 2005

Nature continues as hurdle for ICC

SILVER SPRING - The Good Hope tributary is a tiny stream through the woods of Montgomery County - no more than a few feet wide. In many spots, a reasonably healthy adult could jump over it with little effort.

March 2, 2005

EPA has objection to ICC route plan

Federal regulators are objecting to one of two proposed routes for a highway that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has called his No. 1 transportation priority, finding that the state's efforts to lessen the road's impact fall short of what is needed to protect the environment.

February 27, 2005

Anne Arundel keeps quiet about its opinions on ICC

Q: What input has the State Highway Administration received from Anne Arundel County regarding the proposed Intercounty Connector?

February 15, 2005

Paving the way for ICC

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. promised yesterday that the state would use the most advanced technology to build the proposed Intercounty Connector, insisting that the highway would cause minimal environmental damage while relieving traffic congestion and improving safety.

January 19, 2005

Coalition releases anti-ICC report

Gearing up for a fight over Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s top transportation priority, a coalition of environmental groups said a new highway is the worst of six alternatives for relieving traffic congestion in the Washington suburbs, according to a report it released yesterday.

January 5, 2005

Backers, foes clash over plan for road

GREENBELT -- Advocates and opponents of a proposed highway linking Montgomery and Prince George's counties clashed last night at the first of four hearings on the project, with supporters praising it as a job-creating antidote to gridlock and foes condemning it as a money-wasting contributor to sprawl.

November 23, 2004

State sees less harm in latest ICC study

The Ehrlich administration has concluded that Maryland can build a proposed highway in the Washington suburbs with far less environmental damage than a similar study showed under former Gov. Parris N. Glendening.

November 10, 2004

State wants more funding for ICC project

The Ehrlich administration told lawmakers yesterday that it wants to use more future federal highway funds than allowed under current law to build a proposed east-west highway in the Washington suburbs.

September 17, 2004

Study sees ICC as boon to area

A University of Maryland study predicts that building an east-west highway between Montgomery and Prince George's counties will bring billions of dollars of benefits to users of the road over a 20-year period while creating thousands of new jobs.

January 28, 2003

Disputed connector road finds momentum

ROCKVILLE - The Ehrlich administration is pushing ahead with plans to build an 18-mile highway through the forests and across the streams of Montgomery County - a road that has been embraced by politicians and commuters but was twice rejected by the Environmental Protection Agency.