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ICC Intercounty Connector

Started by Alex, August 27, 2009, 12:06:04 AM

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Alex

Md. warns of I-95 delays for overnight ICC work

LAUREL, Md.
Maryland highway officials are warning late-night motorists to expect delays on Interstate 95 between Baltimore and Washington as crews build the interchange with the Intercounty Connector.

The closings on the interstate between Route 198 in Laurel and Route 212 in Beltsville began this week.

Construction of the 18-mile ICC that will connect U.S. Route 1 with Interstate 270 began in spring 2007, but much of the work so far has taken place along the path of the toll road.

State highway officials say weeknight closures in southbound lanes could start as early as 7 p.m. and northbound lanes could close as early as 8 p.m. Southbound lanes are expected to reopen by 6 a.m. and northbound lanes by 7 a.m.


Alex

Connector Road Inches Along

The 18.8-mile toll road is expected to cost almost $2.6 billion by the time its final link is completed between Interstate 270 in Montgomery County and Route 1 in Prince George's County. The highway, projected 25 years ago to cost $216 million, found its origins in a long-abandoned plan to create a second outer beltway around Washington.

The western end of the project is on schedule, and parts of it should open in a little more than a year, according to state construction supervisors. Inching eastward, the next two segments are expected to be finished late next year or early in 2011.

Despite its grandeur in size, technology and expense, the highway that will open section by section over the next two years is little more than half as long as the one promised in 1958. That one was to stretch in a 32-mile arch through Maryland suburbia, from a point just north of Potomac around to Bowie.

Planners envisioned that most of it would be finished by 1970.

Chris

So construction prices have boomed in the U.S. too... In the seventies you could do 1 mile of freeway for $ 1 million in NL. Now that's closer to 10 - 20 million. Really much more than just inflation.

froggie

WTOP reports and the ICC website confirms that the proposed tolling schedule for the InterCounty Connector (ICC, or MD 200) has been announced, thus starting the 60 day comment period.

There will be congestion pricing built into the toll in that a higher toll will be charged during peak hours...6-9am and 4-7pm M-F (excluding holidays).  Though this will be a static toll vice a dynamic toll (like what you see on HO/T lanes).

Peak toll will range from 25-35 cents/mile for 2-axle passenger vehicles, with non-peak tolls ranging from 20-30 cents/mile.  Multi-axle vehicles will have much higher rates (potentially up to $2.63/mi for 6+ axle vehicles during peak hours).

The rates will initially be static (i.e. 28 cents/mile).  If it's determined by the MDTA Excecutive Secretery that rates need to go up or down, there will be a 10-day public notice made before the rate chane goes into effect.  If the toll rate change falls outside the previously set parameters (i.e. less than 25 cents/mile or greater than 35 cents/mile for peak-period passenger vehicles), a public comment period is required.

The plan is for the road to be all electronic tolling...no toll booths.  EZPass-compatible of course.  For those without EZPass, licence plate photos will be taken and the vehicle owner will be sent the bill, plus a $3 service fee "for the process of taking the picture, finding who the vehicle belongs to, and sending out a bill".

First phase of the ICC (I-370 to MD 97/Georgia Ave) is expected to open late next year (2010), with the rest of the ICC opening in late 2011 or early 2012.

Duke87

Interesting, I did not know this was intended to be a toll road.

I made this a year and a half ago.
Good to hear the project's still moving on schedule.
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

treichard

So I can  keep my EZ Pass account and pay an extra $1.50 in fees each month on top of the ICC tolls, or I can terminate the account and pay an extra $3 in fees on each ICC trip. Or I can use I-495 without fees and hefty tolls and cross my fingers that traffic won't be bad. Or I can just tolerate traffic lights  on the surface roads.

So many suboptimal options...
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mightyace

#6
Quote from: treichard on September 29, 2009, 12:47:15 PM
So I can  keep my EZ Pass account and pay an extra $1.50 in fees each month on top of the ICC tolls, or I can terminate the account and pay an extra $3 in fees on each ICC trip. Or I can use I-495 without fees and hefty tolls and cross my fingers that traffic won't be bad. Or I can just tolerate traffic lights  on the surface roads.

So many suboptimal options...

<sarcasm>
Welcome to life in 21st century America!  :poke:
</sarcasm>

<rant>
I don't know whether I'm just on my way to becoming a cranky old man or what, but that seems to be happening more and more in my life.  I look at a situation and the available options and I don't like any of them.
</rant>
My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyace

I'm out of this F***KING PLACE!

froggie

Well the problem is multifold.  To oversimplify:

- We (and I'm speaking about America in general) want good roads, but don't want to pay for them.

- We complain about toll roads, and we complain when proposals to raise the gas tax are floated, so the two main sources of road funding get whittled down as a result.

- For various myriad reasons, oil, concrete, and steel prices have shot up markedly in recent years, meaning that transportation revenue buys less now than it did even 5 years ago.

- We allowed developers and elected leaders to build us to the point where most of us have no choice but to drive to get anywhere and sit in traffic in the process.

- And for those who like the suburban cul-de-sac type of development, too many either fail to understand or don't care that it A) requires more driving, and B) concentrates traffic on fewer routes, than more traditional development, which is both more walkable and has a grid-system of streets to spread traffic out.

I could wax poetic for weeks on the subject, but that's the main points right there...

FLRoads

Well put, Froggie. I could not agree more with your synopsis described above.

mightyace

Quote from: froggie on September 29, 2009, 07:06:06 PM
Well the problem is multifold.  To oversimplify:

- We (and I'm speaking about America in general) want good roads, but don't want to pay for them.

Agreed. We want to have our cake and eat it too.  But, one way or another our government spending needs to match its income.  I think most of us can agree on that.

Of course, when you try to decide how much to spend and on what, that's when we open the political can of worms.  :sombrero:
My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyace

I'm out of this F***KING PLACE!

Alex

Bridge over ICC to open this week

QuoteMonday, November 23, 2009; 12:02 PM

A newly built bridge that carries Old Columbia Pike over the Intercounty Connector project is to open this week.

The Maryland State Highway Administration said work crews would finish painting roadway markings on the bridge Monday. The bridge is part of the Contract C of the ICC, a section of the expressway that reaches from just west of U.S. 29 to just east of Interstate 95. That portion of the roadway is scheduled to open late next year or in early 2011.

Alex

Jump in Md. tolls likely after 2010
Transportation agency hit by falling revenues, ICC's rising cost

mightyace

#12
Maryland ICC to toll cars 10c to 35c/mile - first all-electronic tollroad in eastern US

and tolls for Trucks and vehicles with Trailers will be MUCH steeper.

Quotetoll rates over 2 axles go up sharply
3-axles=3.0x 2-axle rate,
4-axles=4.5x 2-axle rate,
5-axles=6.0x 2-axle rate,
6-axles=7.5x 2-axle rate.
My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyace

I'm out of this F***KING PLACE!

treichard

The US 29 interchange has some ramp bridges taking shape above and around US 29. There is a VMS promising 15-min closures of US 29 in the near future.  It's interesting how close this interchange is to the new Briggs Chaney Rd. interchange.  It appears that they planned to build the MD 200 interchange just barely far enough away to not have to reconfigure part of the BCRd interchange.

From the MD 97 interchange, you can see a lot of mud in the shape of ramps and the mainline.  Going NB, MD 97 looks like the shoulders have been rebuilt to allow the beginning few yards of the ramps down to MD 200.
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froggie

The rain and snow this winter has apparently put ICC construction behind schedule, according to WTOP.  Though they still plan to open the first phase this fall.

njroadhorse

Quick report about ICC progress.  Yesterday, I was coming home up 95 North, and was presently surprised to see the interchange between the ICC and 95 well underway.  Currently IIRC, the overpass for the ICC is up and over 95, and construction on the flyover between ICC east and 95 North is about half done.  There might have been another ramp under construction, but I couldn't tell. 

One question, when the ICC is done completely, will it be signed as MD 200 or as an I-370 extension?
NJ Roads FTW!
Quote from: agentsteel53 on September 30, 2009, 04:04:11 PM
I-99... the Glen Quagmire of interstate routes??

froggie

MD 200.

That interchange has been underway for about a year or so now...

lamsalfl

Quote from: froggie on September 29, 2009, 07:06:06 PM
Well the problem is multifold.  To oversimplify:

- We (and I'm speaking about America in general) want good roads, but don't want to pay for them.

- We complain about toll roads, and we complain when proposals to raise the gas tax are floated, so the two main sources of road funding get whittled down as a result.

- For various myriad reasons, oil, concrete, and steel prices have shot up markedly in recent years, meaning that transportation revenue buys less now than it did even 5 years ago.

- We allowed developers and elected leaders to build us to the point where most of us have no choice but to drive to get anywhere and sit in traffic in the process.

- And for those who like the suburban cul-de-sac type of development, too many either fail to understand or don't care that it A) requires more driving, and B) concentrates traffic on fewer routes, than more traditional development, which is both more walkable and has a grid-system of streets to spread traffic out.

I could wax poetic for weeks on the subject, but that's the main points right there...


Coming from a non-tolled state, I used to despise the thought of toll roads when I traveled.  Most of this traveling was in Florida.  Then I became highly irritated with toll booths... toll booths malfunctioning by not taking my change and red lights and a buzzer sounding that I bought a SunPass.  Ever since I bought a SunPass my views have changed completely.  When I drive on a toll road in Florida (OOCEA, Tpk, MDX, etc) I know I can expect a road of the highest quality including elaborate landscaping.  Also, OOCEA and Florida's Turnpike have excellent websites to find out more information including road histories. 

I know toll roads are not always in the greatest shape in other states (I'm looking at you, Oklahoma), but with the ease of SunPass (and other states' transponders) paying the toll is very well worth it because you get necessary expansions and new routes much faster than waiting for a piece of funding from Washington or allocated state resources.  "BUILD (or widen) THE DAMN ROAD ALREADY!" is sometimes what we say when we're begging for improvements to non-tolled facilities. 

mgk920

Quote from: lamsalfl on May 30, 2010, 02:52:49 AM
Quote from: froggie on September 29, 2009, 07:06:06 PM
Well the problem is multifold.  To oversimplify:

- We (and I'm speaking about America in general) want good roads, but don't want to pay for them.

- We complain about toll roads, and we complain when proposals to raise the gas tax are floated, so the two main sources of road funding get whittled down as a result.

- For various myriad reasons, oil, concrete, and steel prices have shot up markedly in recent years, meaning that transportation revenue buys less now than it did even 5 years ago.

- We allowed developers and elected leaders to build us to the point where most of us have no choice but to drive to get anywhere and sit in traffic in the process.

- And for those who like the suburban cul-de-sac type of development, too many either fail to understand or don't care that it A) requires more driving, and B) concentrates traffic on fewer routes, than more traditional development, which is both more walkable and has a grid-system of streets to spread traffic out.

I could wax poetic for weeks on the subject, but that's the main points right there...


Coming from a non-tolled state, I used to despise the thought of toll roads when I traveled.  Most of this traveling was in Florida.  Then I became highly irritated with toll booths... toll booths malfunctioning by not taking my change and red lights and a buzzer sounding that I bought a SunPass.  Ever since I bought a SunPass my views have changed completely.  When I drive on a toll road in Florida (OOCEA, Tpk, MDX, etc) I know I can expect a road of the highest quality including elaborate landscaping.  Also, OOCEA and Florida's Turnpike have excellent websites to find out more information including road histories. 

I know toll roads are not always in the greatest shape in other states (I'm looking at you, Oklahoma), but with the ease of SunPass (and other states' transponders) paying the toll is very well worth it because you get necessary expansions and new routes much faster than waiting for a piece of funding from Washington or allocated state resources.  "BUILD (or widen) THE DAMN ROAD ALREADY!" is sometimes what we say when we're begging for improvements to non-tolled facilities. 

It used to be in the first few decades after WWII that fuel taxes were able to cover the costs of building and maintaining most of the nation's roads, but due to the failure to set it up as a percentage-based tax instead of the fixed dollars per unit volume that it is now, inflation destroyed that and such tolls are now politically needed for many of these projects.

That said, you haven't seen a FANTASTIC road until you've driven the just rebuilt Tri-State Tollway (I-94) in Lake County, IL.  I was totally blown away by how GOOD it was, especially when compared to its 'before' situation, when I first drove it late last year.

BTW, I don't know if the 'cashless' ICC will even 'ding' a vehicle with Louisiana plates, nor my vehicle with Wisconsin plates, should I ever drive it without an EZPass-compatible transponder (toll plus a small service charge photo-collected for non-EZPass users).  Many/most of Florida's 'Sunpass-only' roads don't.

Mike

NJRoadfan

Quote from: mgk920 on May 30, 2010, 12:38:07 PM
BTW, I don't know if the 'cashless' ICC will even 'ding' a vehicle with Louisiana plates, nor my vehicle with Wisconsin plates, should I ever drive it without an EZPass-compatible transponder (toll plus a small service charge photo-collected for non-EZPass users).  Many/most of Florida's 'Sunpass-only' roads don't.

Mike

So thats why I saw so many non-Sunpass equipped cars with out of state plates blasting through the Sunpass only lanes on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge...

lamsalfl

Quote from: NJRoadfan on May 30, 2010, 01:19:36 PM
So thats why I saw so many non-Sunpass equipped cars with out of state plates blasting through the Sunpass only lanes on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge...

I live in New Orleans and I have a Sunpass!  Maybe I was one of those out of state plates.

treichard

Here are the new I-370 WB lanes at the MD 200 interchange:

They're now a 30 mph loop ramp.

Will I-370 be truncated to MD 200 when the ICC is opened?
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Alex

Md. to close southbound I-270 for sign work

QuoteGAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) – The Maryland State Highway Administration says all southbound lanes of Interstate 270 will be closed for brief periods early Tuesday morning in the Gaithersburg area so that crews can install an overhead sign structure.

The SHA said Friday that all four lanes south of Exit 10 will be shut down for two, 15-minute intervals between midnight and 4 a.m.

The agency is urging motorists to uses alternate routes such as state Route 355 during that time.

The SHA says the work is part of the Intercounty Connector, a six-lane toll road that will run between Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

Alps

Quote from: treichard on June 05, 2010, 08:22:09 PM

Will I-370 be truncated to MD 200 when the ICC is opened?
I don't know exactly where the changeover occurs, but I do know the parking lot end of I-370 will no longer be the Interstate.  It may be unnumbered, 200, or an unsigned spur like 970.  370-200 will be the mainline.

froggie

MTA is planning a 5K run/walk on the first segment (expected to open by or before January).  The 5K is planned for October 17.



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