Montgomery County leaders are pressing the state to shift priorities for widening Interstate 270 and the Capital Beltway to place more emphasis on easing congestion between Bethesda and Frederick on I-270.
In a letter sent Friday to the state’s secretary of transportation, the county executive and all nine members of the County Council asked the state to reconsider its “traffic relief plan” for the highways that are part of a $9 billion program announced in September 2017 to add four lanes to I-270 and the Capital Beltway in Montgomery County and widen the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
“In our view, the greatest potential for realistic improvement on I-495 and I-270 is between Virginia’s I-495 Next project and Frederick,” according to the letter.
The elected officials wrote that the I-270 project should be given consideration before widening the Beltway east of its connection with the I-270 spur. They also said work between the American Legion Bridge, which connects to Northern Virginia’s toll lanes on the Beltway, should keep a high priority.
“For many years, the County, in collaboration with Frederick County, has asked [the Maryland Department of Transportation] to prioritize improvements to this corridor. MDOT’s rationale for pursuing improvements to the most constrained segment of the Beltway instead of I-270 remains unclear to us,” according to the letter.
“The section of I-270 north of Gaithersburg to the Frederick County line and beyond is plagued by more regular traffic congestion than points south,” the letter continued. “We believe that this upcounty segment warrants attention in an early phase of any capacity enhancements to I-270 and I-495,” the Beltway.
The elected officials, all Democrats, challenged the state’s decision not to put greater emphasis on public transit options, such as providing lanes for express buses, and suggested that interchanges could be added to give buses highway access to I-270 at Bradley Boulevard, Westlake Terrace, Wootton Parkway, Gude Drive and Muddy Branch Road.
And they flagged concerns that tolls planned for some of the lanes “may be very high, which may affect the ability of a broad segment of our community to use the lanes.”
In neighboring Northern Virginia, which last year began using a variable pricing toll system for single-occupant cars on Interstate 66 inside the Beltway, morning rush hour rates sometimes topped $40.
The letter said, “We are concerned the tolls will be excessive and put HOT lanes out of reach for average commuters.”
At a Tuesday meeting with the County Council, state Transportation Secretary Pete K. Rahn said the state’s reviews of the projects are being done “as a system, and starting with the American Legion Bridge, clearly a choke point, which is phase 1 and then quickly we are following up with the remainder of I-495 that is being studied.”
“From a system approach, it makes the most sense to us,” Rahn said. “We are not choosing to do one and not the other.”
Rahn also said there isn’t enough traffic on I-270 from the I-370 interchange in Gaithersburg to Frederick that would generate enough toll revenue to cover construction costs.
