Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[sprjus4]

Although during rush hour its 1 HOV lane, 3 thru lanes, and 2 local lanes. So yes while technically they're removing a general-purpose lane during non-peak hours, during rush hour they're really not. This is similar to what Virginia is doing currently on I-66 and I honestly don't mind it.

My thing was mainly regarding eliminating the local-thru setup, which allows local traffic to use a separate roadway from thru traffic.

[famartin]

Although during rush hour its 1 HOV lane, 3 thru lanes, and 2 local lanes. So yes while technically they're removing a general-purpose lane during non-peak hours, during rush hour they're really not. This is similar to what Virginia is doing currently on I-66 and I honestly don't mind it.

My thing was mainly regarding eliminating the local-thru setup, which allows local traffic to use a separate roadway from thru traffic.

Based on my experience, it operates more like a C/D roadway than a local roadway.

[sprjus4]

Although during rush hour its 1 HOV lane, 3 thru lanes, and 2 local lanes. So yes while technically they're removing a general-purpose lane during non-peak hours, during rush hour they're really not. This is similar to what Virginia is doing currently on I-66 and I honestly don't mind it.

My thing was mainly regarding eliminating the local-thru setup, which allows local traffic to use a separate roadway from thru traffic.

Based on my experience, it operates more like a C/D roadway than a local roadway.

Either way, the toll lane project will eliminate that C/D setup.

[cpzilliacus]

Hogan secures key vote to revive deal advancing highway toll lanes project

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has secured key support on a deal that would put a multibillion-dollar project to build toll lanes on the Beltway and Interstate 270 back on track, the governor’s office announced Friday.

The deal would advance an initial phase of the project involving the American Legion Bridge, a western stretch of the Beltway and the lower section of I-270. It also underscores that the state will not acquire properties lying in the path of the proposed new lanes until building of the lanes has been approved, and it includes earlier funding for transit in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.

The highway project would be one of the nation’s largest public-private partnerships.

[cpzilliacus]

[Commentary] Reason Foundation: The Misguided Efforts to Derail Maryland’s I-270 and I-495 Toll Projects - Drivers would get congestion relief, transit riders would get new high-quality bus service, and taxpayers wouldn't have to fund the projects.

Infrastructure projects where almost everyone gets a win are, unfortunately, relatively few and far between. But that’s exactly what the I-270 and I-495 Maryland managed lanes projects are: Drivers get congestion relief; transit riders get new high-quality bus service; and, taxpayers don’t have to pay for the project unless they choose to use the lanes—since drivers using the managed lanes will pay tolls that fund the entire cost of the project.

[froggie]

The author presumes that toll money would fully pay for the lanes.  That itself is misguided.

[sprjus4]

The author presumes that toll money would fully pay for the lanes.  That itself is misguided.

The taxpayers do benefit though as there will be some congestion relief in the general purpose lanes.

The use of tax dollars to subsidize toll funding should also result in lower toll rates... but we see how well that's worked.

[cpzilliacus]

MDOT/SHA Web site for the P3 project (not sure this has been posted before): I-270 & I-495 Managed Lanes Study

I-495 & I-270  MANAGED LANES STUDY Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Section 4(f ) Evaluation June 2020  Note: Large PDF document (about 23 mb) - high-speed and robust network connection suggested.

DCIST: Maryland Publishes 18,000-page Environmental Impact Assessment Of Proposed I-270 And I-495 Expansion

The state of Maryland has released its long-awaited draft environmental impact assessment for the Hogan administration’s controversial Beltway expansion project.

The report examines the effects a range of possible design options for widening parts of I-495 and I-270 in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties would have on air quality, water quality, wetlands, wildlife, environmental justice, parks and historical sites, and more. The state has been working on the review since 2018. It is 18,000 pages long, including associated technical reports.

The additional highway lanes would be express toll lanes or high-occupancy toll lanes, meaning that drivers using them would pay extra to drive in the less-congested lanes. The project has an estimated $11 billion price tag and would be built as part of a public-private partnership.

The project already passed an important milestone in January, when a revised plan for it was approved by the state’s Board of Public Works, over the objections of some environmental advocates, who wanted the environmental impact study to be completed before the Board approved the plans.

[mrsman]

18,000 pages!   :wow

[cpzilliacus]

18,000 pages!   :wow

The one for the ICC was bigger.

[jmacswimmer]

All 4 teams that responded to the RFQ have now been shortlisted by the state:

https://www.enr.com/articles/49743-maryland-shortlists-four-teams-for-planned-11b-p3-highway-project

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post op-ed: Pandemic aside, Maryland needs to widen I-270 and I-495

The year 2020 has brought many unexpected and mostly unwelcome changes to the D.C. area. However, despite the uncertainty and confusion that have resulted, there has been one unfortunate constant: dithering by our elected officials on traffic solutions.

The latest in our traffic-plagued saga is the publishing and bickering over the environmental impact study on the widening of Interstate 270 and Interstate 495 proposed by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R). The nearly 18,000-page study is not only a mind-numbing read, but its bureaucratic red tape and environmentalist pandering are also insulting. To give context, the U.S. tax code is approximately 6,500 pages long. Are we to believe a 40-mile stretch of roadway is more complex than the entire U.S. tax code?

[cpzilliacus]

Bethesda Magazine: Elrich suggests state should go back to ‘drawing board’ on I-495/I-270 widening project

As the county executive’s office and County Council work to submit their formal response this fall to the recently released draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the I-495/I-270 widening project, County Executive Marc Elrich had some preliminary advice Thursday for state officials: Go back to the “drawing board.”

Saying that “we are not supporting going forward as it stands right now,” Elrich complained that “the state has structured this as an all-or-nothing project. By ruling out transit and other alternatives, it’s left us with either you support toll lanes or you don’t support doing anything. And this sets the project up…to be in opposition to what most of the public thinks should be done right now.”

[Alps]

All 4 teams that responded to the RFQ have now been shortlisted by the state:

https://www.enr.com/articles/49743-maryland-shortlists-four-teams-for-planned-11b-p3-highway-project

So... listed.