Update: HB 1471 was heard by the House Appropriations Committee on March 18th. HB 1416 was not voted out of the House Environmental Matters Committee.

Environmental Challenge: The InterCounty Connector (ICC or I-370) is a proposed 19-mile, $3+ billion interstate-scale toll road that would run from I-270 near Gaithersburg to Route 1 near Laurel.  Federal environmental agencies rejected the ICC twice – in the 1980s and 1990s – because it would severely damage or destroy parks and communities, forests, wetlands and streams.  But from 2003 to 2006, the Bush and Ehrlich administrations wasted $30 million ramming the ICC through a deeply flawed, fast-tracked environmental review.  In May 2006, the Bush administration surprised no one by approving the ICC.

The ICC is one of the most destructive transportation projects to be studied in our region in decades.  It would be six to eight lanes wide where it slashes through parks and communities and 10 to 11 lanes wide near interchanges with other roads.  It would also be part of a sprawling, destructive Outer Beltway that the highway agencies are trying to build piece by piece. 

Even at $3 billion, the ICC would consume a huge percentage of Maryland’s foreseeable transportation funding, and it is competing directly with urgently needed transit and road projects across Maryland. 

Bill Framework:  

1. HB 1471 would defund the Intercounty Connector by repealing the ICC funding package passed by the General Assembly in 2005. This would liberate more then $2 billion in state and federal funding and in state debt capacity.
2. HB 1416 prohibits further expenditures and debt issuance on the ICC until the state assesses and discloses the ICC's green house gas impacts that would result from traffic, sprawl, and loss of forest.
3. HB 1595 prohibits further expenditures and debt issuance on the ICC until the state assesses and discloses the public health impacts of air pollution generated by traffic on  the ICC and nearby roads.

Email your legislators and urge them to build communities, not highways by voting for these bills!

What you can do: Join us for Sustainable Transportation Lobby Night in Annapolis, every Monday night! Come lobby against the ICC and for Community-Friendly, Climate-Friendly Transportation. After a quick briefing and lobby training we'll deploy for meetings with legislators.

5:00p.m. Briefing
5:45 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Lobby visits

Place: St. Anne's Episcopal Church Skylight Room 199 Duke of Gloucester Street Annapolis

PLEASE RSVP ASAP! If you plan to join us for Sustainable Transportation Lobby Night, please contact Alana Wase so that she can set up meetings for you with your legislators. Email: Alana.wase@mdsierra.org
Phone: (301) 277-7111 

Background:
The InterCounty Connector (ICC or I-370) is a proposed 19-mile, $3+ billion interstate-scale toll road that would run from I-270 near Gaithersburg to Route 1 near Laurel.  Federal environmental agencies rejected the ICC twice – in the 1980s and 1990s – because it would severely damage or destroy parks and communities, forests, wetlands and streams.  But from 2003 to 2006, the Bush and Ehrlich administrations wasted $30 million ramming the ICC through a deeply flawed, fast-tracked environmental review.  In May 2006, the Bush administration surprised no one by approving the ICC.

The ICC is one of the most destructive transportation projects to be studied in our region in decades.  It would be six to eight lanes wide where it slashes through parks and communities and 10 to 11 lanes wide near interchanges with other roads.  It would also be part of sprawling, destructive Outer Beltway that the highway agencies are trying to build piece by piece. 

Three agency studies in 10 years have shown that the ICC would increase automobile use, fail to provide significant congestion relief, and increase traffic on segments of the Capital Beltway, I-95, I-270 and other major commuter routes. 

Environmental organizations and Maryland residents have mounted a strong legal challenge to that decision in federal court.  Charges that the Bush and Ehrlich administration violated the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act were heard in October 2007.

Grassroots and official opposition to the ICC is mounting.  On September 7, 2007, 38 municipal, county and state elected officials from Prince George’s County filed an amicus brief supporting the environmental organization in federal court.  On September 25, 2007 the Prince George’s County Council unanimously passed a detailed and substantive resolution opposing the ICC

The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) plans to clearcut mature forests, bulldoze wetlands, and blast away hilltops in the headwaters of Rock Creek and the Anacostia River.  These forested stream valleys shelter rare, threatened and endangered species and some of the healthiest streams in Washington region.  Preserving these healthy headwaters is vital to protecting downstream communities and restoring the Anacostia, the Potomac, and the Chesapeake.

MDOT and the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) estimate that the ICC would trigger 5000 acres of new growth, beyond the growth in current local plans.  Much of this would be sprawl and would destroy even more farms, forests, and wetlands.  Land use experts familiar with the project and region predict the ICC could trigger far more growth.

The ICC would undermine Maryland’s efforts to combat global warming and reduce air pollution.  MDOT and the U.S. DOT predict that the ICC would trigger 700 million vehicle miles of traveled annually in the ICC Study Area – a 20 percent increase.  This would generate a similar increase in emissions of global warming pollution, and does not include new driving from the sprawling growth triggered by the ICC.

Even at $3 billion, the ICC would consume a huge percentage of Maryland’s foreseeable transportation funding, and it is competing directly with urgently needed transit and road projects across Maryland. 

It’s time for Governor O’Malley to take a fresh, hard look at the ICC in light of its rising costs, Maryland’s budget crisis, increasingly tight federal funding, and his pledges to make Maryland a leader in saving the Chesapeake and in fighting global warming.

For more information or volunteer, please contact:  stoptheicc@igc.org