Category: Montgomery County

14317513_10154549555773781_4197299944284408040_nArea leaders, including U.S. Representatives John Delaney and Chris Van Hollen, and a host of local and state officials from Montgomery and Frederick Counties, gathered today to launch a new coalition effort to re-start two long-delayed project studies that hold great promise for unlocking the severe traffic nightmare that is I-270 during both rush-hours. Congressman Delaney is the group’s Honorary Chair and played a key role in its creation.

The bipartisan group of business, civic and elected leaders will press for multimodal solutions, including new express-toll lanes and regional bus-rapid-transit (BRT) using those new lanes, with the current general-purpose lanes remaining free of charge. Two project studies, the I-270/US 15 Multimodal Corridor Study and the Western Mobility Study have been on hold for decades and would be necessary to complete before any long-term construction projects to add significant new lane capacity could begin.  The Fix270Now coalition is urging leaders in both parties to make restarting those project studies a top priority, and to include a multimodal express-toll and BRT alternative, running from the Virginia side of the American Legion Bridge, up the 270 Spur and the entire I-270 corridor, all the way to Frederick.

In the short term, the coalition is supporting efforts by Governor Larry Hogan to upgrade key interchanges and provide an additional $100 million to explore innovative congestion management strategies.

In the long-run, studies show the addition of new toll lanes integrated with a regional BRT system that includes the long-planned Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) would improve peak-hours speeds for outbound travelers in the afternoon rush-hour by up to 87%, and for inbound morning rush-hour travelers by up to 70%.

Maryland cannot afford further delay on proven steps to keep traffic in the state’s number-one job-creation corridor moving.  SMTA is strongly supporting this effort, as both I-270 and the American Legion Bridge are among our top-priority projects that area transportation experts identified as urgent investment priorities to support our region’s economy and protect our quality-of-life. Please take a moment to add your support for this important effort by using the “sign-up” button at Fix270Now.org. Let’s get Maryland moving!

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Morning rush-hour conditions created the perfect backdrop for the launching of Fix270Now.

pln_logo_sharp_smallPurple Line Now is hosting a forum at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services center September 29th to explore Denver’s experience with a light-rail line delivered through a public-private partnership, as is also the case with Maryland’s Purple Line.

Guests are invited to sign up in advance to attend. Click this link to RSVP.

The Purple Line is one of SMTA’s top-priority projects and would help connect the region and more effectively utilize our current Metro system, enabling tens of thousands more residents to enjoy faster, more efficient east-west trips from Bethesda to College Park and other destinations and spark greater economic investment in key inside-the-Beltway communities.

Construction was expected to begin by the end of 2016, however, legal challenges have once again delayed this priority project. More information is available at the Purple Line Now website, including updates on the project’s status and this latest court challenge.

 

Maryland’s Board of Public Works, which include Governor Larry Hogan, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, and Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp, approved a $5.6 billion contract for the Purple Line this week.  The contract includes both construction and operating costs, and make the Purple Line one of the largest transportation projects in recent Maryland history, significantly more expensive than the InterCounty Connector, another SMTA priority project, that has been operating for several years now in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.

The Purple Line links key activity centers from Bethesda, to Silver Spring, Greenbelt and eventually New Carrollton, and is expected to yield billions in related economic development and job creation benefits, as well as providing significantly improved suburb-to-suburb transit service throughout this corridor.  The latest approval by the Board of Public Works marks one of the final steps in this long-anticipated project, which is expected to start construction as early as the end of this year.

For more, here is the Baltimore Sun’s coverage of this latest step forward in the Purple Line’s long-overdue march to completion.  The Baltimore Red Line, also noted in the article, was not approved by Governor Hogan due to its comparatively poor performance in attracting new transit riders and low cost-effectiveness ratings, which may have doomed its chances of ever winning federal funding anyway.  The Purple Line has long been among SMTA’s top transportation priorities for the Greater Washington region.

Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance (SMTA) Vice Chair, Richard Parsons, spoke out strongly in favor of the Purple Line at a recent debate at the AFI Theater in Silver Spring, organized by the Maryland Public Policy Institute.  Parsons squared off against noted transit critic, Randall O’Toole of the Cato Foundation.

Parsons made the case that both the economic development the Purple Line would bring — tens of thousands of new jobs every year in addition to thousands of short-term construction jobs — and the transportation benefits from creating a regional transportation network by linking existing metro lines together into a more robust system — would be well worth the $2.5 billion investment.

The debate was featured in several articles including this one in the Gazette.

SMTA is urging our members to contact Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to support construction of the Purple Line as soon as possible.

Business leaders from the Greater Washington Board of Trade, Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, other local Chambers and leaders in the building industry from across the Washington Region came together today at the University of Maryland for a strategy session with top political leaders on advancing the Purple Line, which is due to begin construction by the end of 2015.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has included initial funding in his first budget, and will be making a final decision on the project after a 90-day review period that coincides with an ongoing bid process involving dozens of private-sector firms seeking to participate in a public-private partnership to help fund and build the Purple Line.

Citing its profoundly positive economic impacts, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, and County Council Chairs George Leventhal and Mel Franklin from the same counties, joined the mainly business crowd in calling upon the Governor to approve the project, which remains one of SMTA’s priority near-term projects.

The economic return on this $2.4 billion investment is significant — new studies indicate that over a 30-year period the Purple Line would create over 27,000 jobs, increase surrounding property values by $9.8 billion, and generate a positive return to federal, state and local governments of over $10 billion, or nearly 5 times the proposed investment.

The state is facing financial strains, and other pressing transportation needs to be funded to be sure, but the vast majority of the funding already committed to the Purple Line is project-specific and cannot be re-purposed (including some $900 million in federal funds that will go to another state if not used for the Purple Line).  The fact is, cutting the Purple Line now, as it nears the finish line in a decades-long review process, would be a huge setback for Maryland businesses, the local economy, and future state tax revenues.

The project is nearly shovel-ready and is slated to begin construction by the end of this Fiscal Year.  This means its benefits — including tens of thousands of new construction jobs, rising incomes and improved property values — will begin to be felt right away, providing an almost immediate boost to state and local revenues (without raising tax rates).  Not doing so would have the opposite effect, and could set back prospects for other public-private-partnerships significantly by discouraging other bidders from stepping forward.

In our view, the case for the Purple Line has been made.  It is a sound business investment and should move forward now, not later.  With a newly elected Governor committed to job growth and economic competitiveness as his top priorities, SMTA and the business leaders at today’s meeting all share the belief that the Purple Line would go a long way to get us there.

 

Purple Line mapThe Purple Line, a long-debated light-rail transit line running from the Bethesda through Silver Spring, College Park and eventually connecting all the way to New Carrollton, may be facing new hurdles with the election of Larry Hogan as Maryland’s next Governor.  As reported in the Washington Post, during the campaign Hogan expressed skepticism regarding the need for the Purple Line, though he later moderated his comments and now says he will keep an open mind.  We hope so.

SMTA has long supported the Purple Line as an important suburb-to-suburb connection between key activity centers on both ends of the Metro Red Line, as well as the Green and Orange Lines.  It creates a far more robust transit backbone for suburban Maryland communities and brings with it significant economic development and job-creation benefits.  Moreover, the Purple Line enjoys overwhelming support from voters in the DC suburbs and enjoys strong backing from the local business community — including all the local Chambers of Commerce and the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

While the new political terrain in Maryland may pose new challenges, and perhaps a new round of questions regarding the most cost-effective way to build the Purple Line, it is hard to see the project itself coming to a halt at this point.  Millions has already been invested in right-of-way acquisition, planning and engineering, and prior studies indicate significant economic and transportation benefits.

Maryland leaders should always seek to maximize taxpayers’ return on investment on major projects like this, so such questions should be asked (and have been).  However, we find that often the best way to reduce cost is to push for swift completion of projects to avoid the cost inflation that always comes from delay and inaction.

When it comes to the Purple Line, and other priority transportation projects in the Greater Washington region, it may be that further delay is the most expensive option of all.

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Construction on final ICC segment

New Interchange in Prince George’s County also Set to Open by Monday

The InterCounty Connector, or ICC, will soon be open all the way from the I-270 corridor to Route 1 in Prince George’s County.

Here is a map of the new intersection at Route 1.  Please watch for new traffic patterns.

More details are provided in the update below from the Maryland Transportation Authority.

 

FINAL SECTION OF ICC AND NEW INTERCHANGE IN PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY TO OPEN BY MONDAY Process to Fully Open Both Roadways Starts Friday Evening Motorists are Urged to Pay Attention to New Traffic Patterns Beginning Friday evening, November 7, crews will begin opening the final section of the Intercounty Connector (ICC) / MD 200 to US 1 in Prince George’s County.  During this same time, crews also will begin opening the I-95 / Konterra Drive (formerly Contee Road) Interchange, located between the ICC and MD 198.  Both the ICC and the new interchange will open to traffic by morning rush hour on Monday, November 10, weather permitting.

The last segment of the ICC extends 1.5 miles from I-95 to US 1 in Laurel.  This project also includes a partial interchange at Konterra Drive and a signalized intersection at US 1 near the MARC commuter station on Muirkirk Road.  Commuters will have improved access to the Muirkirk MARC Station by traveling eastbound on the ICC/MD 200 to Konterra Drive (Exit 20), turn right, then left at the traffic signal on Muirkirk Road over US 1 to a left into the entrance for the MARC station.  The final ICC contract included improvements to I-95 to create new collector-distributor (CD) lanes for access to and from the new Konterra Drive, the ICC and MD 198 interchanges (see project map). Simultaneous to the opening of the final segment of the ICC, SHA will open a new I-95 interchange at Konterra Drive.

Motorists should use caution when traveling through the area over the weekend as crews will open the connecting ramps, roads and CD lanes in phases.  Drivers are urged to follow signs, watch for construction crews and prepare for new traffic patterns.  For more information about using the ICC and signing up for E-ZPass, visit www.mdta.maryland.gov and for more information about the ICC project visit www.iccproject.com and for state highways, visit www.roads.maryland.gov. For Statewide traffic conditions, visit md511.org.  For the most up-to-date information follow us on Twitter at TheMDTA or on Facebook at facebook.com/TheMDTA.

This is a message from the Maryland Transportation Authority.

Governor Martin O’Malley’s key transportation funding bills will be heard by three key committees in the Maryland State Senate and House of Delegates this week in Annapolis.  Two identical companion bills, titled the “Maryland Transportation Financing and Infrastructure Investment Act of 2012″ (SB971 and HB1302) are scheduled to come before the Senate Budget & Tax Committee, and the House Ways & Means and Environmental Matters committees, all on March 14th.  

Both bills add $613 million in desperately needed funding to restore Maryland’s decimated transportation capital investment program.  After going without a significant increase since 1992 in the motor fuel taxes (the primary source of transportation funding in Maryland), critically important projects including the Corridor Cities Transitway, Purple Line, Baltimore Red Line, and dozens of major road and intersection improvements throughout the Washington suburbs and around the state CANNOT BE BUILT unless the legislature approves new funding of at least this magnitude.

The bill also includes a “lock-box” type mechanism to prevent future diversions of transportation dollars to unrelated purposes (to avoid future raids), and a number of other provisions. 

The bills would apply Maryland’s 6% sales tax to gasoline sales at the wholesale level, phased in over three years.  The cost for the average household comes out to under $30 per year in the first year; about $55 the second; and about $85 when fully implemented.  Even at the full price, it is a small price to pay for reducing the $2,300 the average motorist in our state is currently throwing away in wasted gas and added wear-and-tear from sitting in the nation’s worst congestion.

The SMTA Board was briefed recently on two efforts to expand bus-rapid-transit service, also known as “BRT” (or the more appealing acronym “RTV” for “Rapid-Transit-Vehicle”).   RTV systems are seen as a cost-effective alternative to either single-occupancy-vehicle automobile travel or more expensive fixed-rail transit systems. 

The first is being pursued in Montgomery County by County Executive Ike Leggett’s Transit Implementation Task Force, which is looking at a county-wide system covering as many as 18 routes.  The system under consideration would be the region’s first “gold” level RTV system, meaning its vehicles would move in their own dedicated lanes and provide a much higher level of service and shorter travel times than traditional bus systems.

The second is currently under study by metropolitan Washington’s Transportation Planning Board.  New modeling data presented this week shows significant traffic relief — a 12% reduction in travel delays — can be achieved through a scaled-down combination of new toll lanes on major highways, conversion of some existing lanes to toll lanes, a network of regional bus-rapid-transit lines using those managed lanes, and more focused development around transit stations.  The study also conclusively shows that transit-oriented land-use changes, by themselves, do nothing to relieve congestion, but in combination with new lane capacity and transit service, yield significant positive results.  The best part of all, the revenue from these new toll lanes more than pays for the construction and operating costs of the entire system, including the new lanes and RTV transit system.  You heard that right, a self-financing project that cuts congestion delays in the entire region by 12%.  This ought to be one of THE top priorities for local jurisdictions in the Washington region.

Today the 2030 Group released a new study that was conducted jointly by SMTA and the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, to explore how the region sets transportation priorities and what leading experts in the field feel those priorities should be.   The survey was conducted over the past several months through telephone surveys and focus groups with over 40 top transportation professionals from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

 Summary of the Key Findings:

1.      The nation’s most congested region lacks a well-defined short-list of transportation investments that would have the greatest potential to reduce congestion/improve mobility over the next 20 years.

2.      Among transportation professionals, significant consensus exists as to highway and public transit investments that would be the most productive. 

3.      The top-ten projects are listed in the report, including continued investment in Metro System Maintenance and Operations, New Potomac Bridges, and multi-modal projects to add capacity in several key transportation corridors.

4.      The prioritization process should focus heavily on highway and transit investments that do the most to reduce travel times/delays, reduce congestion, and improve transportation network safety and reliability.

5.      Meeting the region’s transportation challenges requires not only selecting/advancing the right priorities, but a new process that is more regional and professional and less parochial, political and ideologically driven.

The number-one priority identified by regional experts:  Invest in current Metro system operations, core capacity and maintenance.  Multi-modal investments to area highways, bridges and new transit lines to better connect regional activity centers and key economic corridors together throughout the region rounded out most of the remaining  top-10 priorities, along with better land-use policies to encourage more transit-oriented development.

This independent study was sponsored by the 2030 Group, an association of business and community leaders working towards greater regional cooperation on long-term planning and economic issues.