Re VA’s 495 NEXT project, while the current plans do include full tie-ins of the GWMP to the VA portion of the Beltway HO/T lanes, they only include repairs to the actual GWMP bridge, and no new ramps heading into MD. Pretty sure VA didn’t expect much out of MD, but hoped this work might add a bit of pressure. At this point the best we can hope for is some of the recent Fed money going to replace the Bridge. Because the MD project was to terminate at the 370 and Old Georgetown Rd interchanges, the congestion at each of those narrowing points would have been far worse than now.
I guess my awesome plan of tunneling the Beltway HO/T lanes from the Spur to near I-95 in College Park will never come to fruition…
Extremely unfortunate but not surprising. The only argument that I thought was somewhat valid from the opponents was the reality that new (and perhaps worse) bottlenecks would be created as a result of Phase 1. However, I don't see how any expansion of the American Legion Bridge (with or without HO/T lanes) or further widening up to I-270 Spur would have not also resulted in new bottlenecks. At least under this scenario, the new I-270 bottleneck would have been eventually alleviated by Phase 1a (which I assume would have also be a P3 deal at no cost to the state).
Now, after already spending over $200 million on planning, permits, etc., Maryland is forced to start back from square one. Regardless of what Phase 1 opponents have said, there is absolutely no guarantee that the federal government covers the full cost of a new American Legion Bridge. It is now entirely possible that limited state transportation funding for other Maryland projects is reallocated in order to fund this. In addition, Montgomery County's dreams of an extensive and reliable BRT network, which would have been made both physically and financially possible as a result of this P3 agreement may also be jeopardy. At best, this setback results in a similar, yet scaled down Phase 1 that just got more expensive and delayed. The worse case scenario is perpetual delay since I have still yet to see any sort of real alternative offered from Phase 1 opponents besides vague "transit improvements" which again
WOULD HAVE BEEN DONE AS RESULT OF THIS PROJECT AT NO COST TO THE STATE. But hey for the sake of equity at least everyone will be stuck in traffic.
Even though Susan Shaw, Virginia's megaprojects director claimed just a few weeks back that she was confident Maryland would be moving forward with Phase 1, she had to of seen this coming from a mile away. The lack of a true DMV HO/T lanes network likely not only affects I-495 NEXT in terms of how those HO/T lanes will be integrated with whatever Maryland now does but also perhaps the potential I-495 southside extension, which at this moment, is planned to continue across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and into Maryland. Got to imagine those affected homeowners along the I-495 NEXT project are pretty furious right now.
Ultimately, I think Maryland will come to regret this decision (even thought it was technically Transurban that walked, Maryland was purposely making it pretty much impossible not to) and the ramifications of increased traffic congestion and unreliability may be felt for years to come (FBI headquarters?).
Oh and P.S. as this is all happening Maryland continues to build express toll lanes north of Baltimore where literally the only people who can use them are the ones who can afford to. Don't remember "equity" being mentioned then. Ridiculous.