Tag: 495/270

RELEASE: Advocates Call for Alternatives to Governor’s Toll Lane Plan 

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

Today the Moore Administration announced it will seek a federal grant to advance former Gov. Hogan’s defective plan for toll lanes on I-495 across the American Legion Bridge to the I-270 spur, and the I-270 west spur. 

Our partners and policy makers have proposed a range of toll-lane alternatives that can provide congestion relief alone or in combination. These include bus rapid transit networks on parallel roads; incentives for telework and flexible work hours; converting a lane on I-495 for bus, vanpools and HOV; reversible lanes during rush hour; metered ramps and other features included in the successful Innovation Congestion Management Program on I-270; addressing the East-West economic, racial and commuting divide through transit-oriented development; quickly completing the Purple Line and planning for Metrorail or light rail over the American Legion and Woodrow Wilson Bridges.

CSG Comments to VDOT/VDRPT on 495 Southside Express Lanes NEPA Study

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

The Coalition for Smarter Growth appreciates the efforts of the Virginia Department of Transportation
(VDOT) and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) to improve mobility
within the I-495 corridor between Springfield and Maryland. However, to truly address the needs of the
study area communities on either side of the Woodrow Wilson bridge and the metropolitan region,
VDOT will need to take a broader and more holistic approach consistent with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Letter re: 495/270 Toll Lanes in Montgomery County Economic Development Strategic Plan

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Ave. 6th Floor
Rockville, MD 20850
March 17, 2022

Dear Councilmember:

We are writing with respect to the Council’s consideration of the draft County economic development plan. We urge you to support the removal of a recommendation on page 30 to “Cooperate with state and federal resources to facilitate expedient expansion of the American Legion Bridge, the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) and I-270…” and to oppose any substitute language that suggests support for the toll lanes.

We appreciate the Council’s effort to seek efficient transportation in this corridor. Because the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) lacked key analyses, including on environmental justice and climate change, it would be a mistake to recommend the toll lanes project in the economic development plan. Without a complete SDEIS, the public and policymakers are denied a full understanding of the project’s impacts and an opportunity to provide input that could help shape final decisions.

Environmental Justice Concerns

The SDEIS did not include an environmental justice analysis to show whether the negative consequences of the toll lanes would fall disproportionately on communities of color and low-income residents. Instead, MDOT has deferred this analysis until the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). Because the public comment process ended on November 30, there will be no opportunity for the public to review the environmental justice analysis and provide input. Embracing the toll lanes without an environmental justice analysis is not consistent with the County’s Racial Justice and Social Equity Initiative which is aimed at making informed decisions to ensure equitable outcomes. 

While MDOT has consulted with stakeholders regarding the impact of the toll lanes on the Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 Moses Hall and Cemetery, it has not fully assessed the impact on all of the cemetery property, including all potential grave sites. MDOT cannot avoid or minimize disturbance of gravesites at the cemetery in this historic Black community, if it does not know where all the graves are located. 

Failure to Study Impact on Climate Crisis

MDOT also failed to provide an analysis in the SDEIS showing how the operation of the toll lanes would impact greenhouse gas emissions. In its comments, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission noted that the toll lanes would shift bottlenecks, but not eliminate congestion in the corridor. Their comments went on to state that, “While some of these bottleneck shifts were expected, the degree resulting from the proposed project is severe on I-270 north of I-370, on the Inner Loop on the top side of the Beltway, and on the Inner Loop in Prince George’s County.” These severe bottlenecks are likely to increase greenhouse gas emissions. It is critical that MDOT analyze emissions from the operation of the toll lanes and provide public review and comment. The County Council has established ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But it cannot know whether its plan is adequate if it does not know the impact of the operation of the toll lanes.

While MDOT is planning to conduct an analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions from construction activity, they deferred it until the FEIS. This blocks the public and local policymakers from providing input and offering steps to mitigate emissions. 

Purple Line 2.0

Last August, the entire Council urged the Board of Public Works (BPW) to delay a vote on the predevelopment contract with Transurban and allow the State’s bond counsel and financial advisor to review the contract. While the BPW did not heed your call, your request for due diligence was prudent. As you know, Capital Express Mobility Partners (CEMP) has challenged the award of the project to Transurban, arguing that their bid understated the costs of the project and that this would lead to cost overruns, and delays. The Montgomery County Circuit Court recently ruled that MDOT was wrong to ignore the substance of CEMP’s challenge and ordered the agency to review it. During the hearing, the judge expressed dismay that MDOT had not evaluated CEMP’s claims that the Transurban bid was not financially feasible. If CEMP’s claims are ignored, the County risks disruption that could far exceed the Purple Line debacle.

The omission of important analyses in the SDEIS, denying the public the opportunity to provide input and the failure of MDOT to exercise financial due diligence should give you pause. We urge you to strike the recommendation of the toll lanes project from the draft economic development plan. 

Sincerely,

350 Montgomery County
Audubon Naturalist Society
Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition
Bike Maryland
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church Environmental Justice Ministry
Central Maryland Transportation Alliance
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility
Citizens Against Beltway Expansion
Coalition for Smarter Growth
Corazón Latino
DoTheMostGood
DontWiden270.org
Friends of Sligo Creek
Glen Echo Heights Mobilization
Greater Farmland Civic Association
Greater Greater Washington
Howard County Climate Action
Interfaith Power & Light (DC. MD. NoVA)
League of Women Voters of Maryland
Maryland Legislative Coalition
Maryland Sierra Club
National Parks Conservation Association
Neighbors of the Northwest Branch
Rails to Trails Conservancy
Save Our Seminary
Sligo Creek Golf Association
Smart Growth Maryland
The Climate Mobilization Montgomery County
Washington Area Bicyclist Association
Woodside Forest Civic Association

Comments on the I-495 and I-270 Managed Lanes Study Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

The Coalition for Smarter Growth submits the following comments in response to the Notice of Availability of the I– 495 & I–270 Managed Lanes Study Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) and Updated Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation. We have also signed onto and endorse the comments submitted by the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club and separate comments by the Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition.

Take Action: Will Maryland’s Board of Public Works vote to expand highways during a climate crisis?

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

On Wednesday, the three-person Maryland Board of Public Works is scheduled to vote on the contract to widen I-495 and I-270 with four private toll lanes. This vote is happening before critical financial and risk analyses and a final environmental impact statement are complete. We are calling on the Board to delay the vote.

Good government demands that members of the Board of Public Works and the public should know the full fiscal, environmental, and social risks of this project by completing the environmental impact study before the Board of Public Works votes — certainly before locking Maryland into a long-term, exclusive contract. 

To be clear, we agree that we need to address the Beltway and I-270, but the process has been distorted from the beginning because of the power of the toll road companies and Governor Hogan starting with the conclusion first and failing to objectively consider alternatives.

Evaluation of alternatives is particularly important because the highway expansion will harm hundreds of acres of parkland, wetlands, and waterways, as well as lead to more noise, air pollution, stormwater runoff, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Here’s how you can help:

  1. Join the rally Wednesday morning! At 8:45am on August 11, join us and our environmental and community partners at a rally/press conference tomorrow morning. The plan is to gather at 8:45am at the Treasury Building at 80 Calvert St. in Annapolis. More info about speaker to come. Directions and parking options here.
  2. Call Comptroller Peter Franchot: Before 10am on August 11, call Board of Public Works member and State Comptroller Peter Franchot at 410-260-7801. Here’s what to say: My name is X, and I am a resident of (insert city). I’m calling to urge Comptroller Franchot to delay a vote on the I-495 & I-270 initial contract until after the final Environmental Impact Statement is complete and we know the risks. Talking points can be found here.
  3. Testify or submit written comments as soon as possible:
    1. Submit written testimony to email.bpw@maryland.gov, mdcomptroller@marylandtaxes.gov, and Treasurer@treasurer.state.md.us
    2. You can testify in-person at the Treasurer’s Office in Annapolis or virtually. Send request to email.bpw@maryland.gov and specify you want to testify in opposition on item 11-GM. 

This project isn’t worth the high cost to parks, streams, neighborhoods, taxpayers, and drivers. Instead of investing in transit-oriented communities — especially in Prince George’s County — it condemns residents of the east side of our region to forever having more costly, long commutes. Read more in CSG’s executive director’s op-ed in the Baltimore Sun.

RELEASE: Transportation Planning Board Re-Vote on Governor Hogan’s Toll Lanes

Posted on by Jane Lyons

COALITION FOR SMARTER GROWTH

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

July 21, 2021

Contact

Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director, 703-599-6437

Transportation Planning Board Re-Vote on Governor Hogan’s Toll Lanes

Governor Hogan’s strong-arming further exposes biases and flaws in Beltway/270 study, and the distortions of the P3 approach

Today, the regional Transportation Planning Board voted to reinstate the Beltway/I-270 toll lanes project in the long-range transportation plan for air quality modeling. The revote followed a massive political campaign by Governor Hogan, including threats to cut projects, removals of toll road opponents and appointments of supporters, and weak promises of additional investment in transit.

“Rather than establishing the merits of his toll lanes project, Governor Hogan has reinforced the serious bias and flaws in his approach to the Capital Beltway and I-270,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “He started with the conclusion that he wanted private toll lanes and has failed to analyze comprehensive alternatives.”

“The toll lanes would reinforce the East-West economic divide in our region condemning Prince George’s commuters to either paying very high tolls or sitting in the general-purpose lane traffic that the toll road companies depend on to generate their profits. A far better alternative is Maryland investment in transit-oriented development on the east side of the region, which would increase jobs, shorten commutes, even out the flows on the Beltway and Metrorail, and help address the E-W economic and racial divide,” said Schwartz.

“The P3 process in Virginia and Maryland is resulting in undue influence by multinational corporations, prejudging and biasing the outcome of environmental and alternatives studies,” said Schwartz. “The premature approval of 495Next in Virginia created a threat of a bottleneck at the American Legion Bridge, which has become a way to force concerned Virginia and Maryland jurisdictions to support the further extension of the toll lanes into Maryland.”

“Not only are we not getting objective evaluation of alternatives, these projects also fail to adequately fund good, effective transit, and include non-compete clauses that potentially block important transit investments such as future Metrorail or light rail at the American Legion Bridge.”

“It is astounding to see our local and state leaders pressing forward with massive highway expansion in the face of the existential threat of climate change. In the past weeks, we have heard more about the melting of ice sheets in the Arctic, Greenland, and Antarctica, massive fires in the Western US, deadly flooding in Europe, the US and China, and shellfish cooking on the beaches of Canada amid record heat waves,” said Schwartz. “As this vote took place today, the DC region has a Code Orange, unhealthy air due to particulate pollution from the haze from massive Western wildfires.”

“Going forward, we are urging the Maryland Board of Public Works to delay action on contracts until completion of the environmental impact studies and the addition of a TOD/transit/demand management alternative,” concluded Schwartz.

Our thanks to the following elected officials and their jurisdictions who stood up for fighting climate change, and for transit and sustainable, equitable communities: Mayor Patrick Wojahn (College Park), Mayor Emmett Jordan (Greenbelt), County Executive Marc Elrich ( Montgomery County), Mayor Bridget Newton (Rockville), Councilmember Kacy Kostiuk (Takoma Park), Mayor Pro Tem Adrian Boafo (Bowie), Delegate Marc Korman (MD House), and Councilmembers Brooke Pinto, Charles Allen, and Christina Henderson (DC).

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CSG Testimony: TPB Vote on Capital Beltway/I-270 & Long-Range Transportation Plan

CSG Testimony: TPB Vote on Capital Beltway/I-270 & Long-Range Transportation Plan

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

July 20, 2021

Hon. Charles Allen
Chair, National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board

Re: TPB Vote on Capital Beltway/I-270 and the Long-Range Transportation Plan

Chair Allen and members of the TPB:

I will keep our comments short:

  1. Governor Hogan and MDOT have:
    • Completely failed to objectively study alternatives to the toll lanes
    • Put the P3 negotiations and contracts ahead of completion of the EIS, and biased the entire process for private toll lanes.
    • Run a scorched-earth political campaign which demonstrates their bias.
  2. The toll lane deals for 495Next in Virginia and for Maryland not only lack the commitment to transit funding we need, the non-compete provisions appear to prevent future Metrorail at the American Legion Bridge and other transit investments.
  3. Climate change is an existential threat. Contrary to MDOT arguments, highway expansion increases driving and CO2 emissions. It is astounding to see massive highway expansion proposed while the Arctic and Antarctic melts, the West burns, Europe floods, and shellfish cooks on the beaches of Canada.
  4. The toll lanes would reinforce the East-West economic divide in our region condemning Prince George’s commuters to either paying very high tolls or sitting in the general-purpose lane traffic that the toll road companies depend on to generate their profits.
  5. A far better alternative is Maryland investment in transit-oriented development on the east side of the region, which would increase jobs, shorten commutes, even out the flows on the Beltway and Metrorail, and help address the E-W economic and racial divide.

Therefore, we urge you to stand by your vote to remove the toll lanes from the TPB’s long range plan and honestly to take the same step for the 495Next project – in order to force objective consideration of alternatives, the climate impacts, and the development of the most sustainable and effective alternative with the least impact on parks and communities.

We are running out of time on the climate and are failing to do what needs to be done to address the E-W economic and racial divide. We need your leadership.

Thank you,

Stewart Schwartz
Executive Director

2021.07.20-Testimony-to-TPB-re-Md-Toll-lanesDownload
RELEASE CORRECTED: Removal of 495/270 Toll Lanes from Regional Plan

RELEASE CORRECTED: Removal of 495/270 Toll Lanes from Regional Plan

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa
2021.06.16-RELEASE-CORRECTED-re-TPB-Vote-on-Climate-495-270Download

PRESS RELEASE – CORRECTED (to identify the correct motion maker)

For Immediate Release
June 16, 2021

Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director, 703-599-6437

Concern about Climate Change Leads to Historic Vote at the Region’s Transportation Planning Board

Vote removes 495/270 toll lanes from the long-range plan, requires next plan to meet climate goals

Today, in the latest of several significant debates at the Transportation Planning Board, the regional body of local and state officials charged with creating a regional long-range transportation plan Visualize 2045, the body voted to remove the I-495/I-270 toll lanes from the draft plan and to require the development of a climate-friendly plan by 2024.

Gary Ehrenrich, representing Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich made the motion to remove the I-495/I-270 toll lane project from the plan and it passed 16 to 12 with 6 abstentions. Mayor Bridget Newton of Rockville and other Maryland leaders spoke firmly about the reasons for removing the project, with the vote attracting near universal support from local Maryland jurisdictions as well as support from DC and some Virginia jurisdictions. This was followed by a vote on the draft 2022 long-range transportation plan – now minus the toll lane project, and with provisions advanced by Montgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass to commit the TPB to create a new plan by 2024 that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The TPB voted 26 to 4 with 4 abstentions on the measure.

“The unifying theme in today’s vote was the overwhelming concern of elected officials about climate change. It motivated the vote to remove the toll lane project and to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our region’s transportation sector,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

A number of outer Virginia jurisdictions thought it was too late to change the current draft plan which will move forward into air quality modeling and adoption in the spring of 2022, but they ultimately also joined Maryland and DC in voting to begin work to adopt another more climate-friendly plan by 2024. “We wish the TPB would have acted this cycle to fundamentally reform the current plan because we have no time to waste,” said Schwartz. “Nevertheless, they made an important commitment today to adopt a more climate-friendly plan by 2024.”

  • The scientific consensus is that we must slash our emissions by 2030. The Biden Administration and our regional Council of Governments have each set a goal of cutting CO2 emissions 50% below 2005 levels by 2030.
  • Transportation is this region’s and the nation’s largest source of CO2 emissions.
  • Recent studies show that electric vehicles will not be enough, therefore the region will need to use transit-oriented development, transit, and demand reduction solutions to reduce vehicle miles traveled and associated emissions.
  • The Council of Governments’ recent Voices of the Region Survey found that 84% of the region’s residents want elected officials to prioritize climate change in transportation plans.
  • Public comment on Visualize 2045 has overwhelmingly supported a plan that addresses climate change.

“Removal of the I-495/I270 project from the draft plan means it will not be included in the federally mandated air quality conformity modeling, a huge roadblock for the controversial project,” said Schwartz. “I believe the many flaws in the Hogan Administration’s approach to the project including failure to analyze more sustainable and less destructive alternatives, failure to hear the public outcry or account for the strong opposition of nearly every local jurisdiction, and rush to commit the state to a long-term contract before finishing all of the environmental impact studies, contributed to the resounding rejection of the project today at the TPB.”

“There may also be implications for Virginia’s 495Next HOT lane extension contract with Transurban but that would have to be confirmed with VDOT,” said Schwartz. “Many of us had urged Virginia not to rush into that deal because of the controversy in Maryland and the similar failure in Virginia to consider alternative approaches. We want to see solutions for the American Legion Bridge and 495, and the best solutions lie in addressing the east-west jobs/housing imbalance, focusing jobs and housing near transit, and in the growth in telecommuting.”

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RELEASE: Best Smart Growth Plan for ALB & Beltway

Posted on by Emily Maurer
Release-Best-Smart-Growth-Plan-for-ALB-Beltway-1Download

Press Release 

For Immediate Release: 

April 9, 2021 

Contact:  

Stewart Schwartz, CSG, 703-599-6437, stewart@smartergrowth.net 

Eliza Cava, ANS, 202-503-9141, eliza.cava@anshome.org 

Kyle Hart, NPCA, 202-400-1193, khart@npca.org 

Josh Tulkin, Sierra Club Maryland Chapter, josh.tulkin@mdsierra.org, 650-722-3171 Douglas Stewart, Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, 703-407-2790, douglasbstewart@gmail.com 

Environmental Advocates Release “Best Smart Growth Plan” for American  Legion Bridge and Capital Beltway 

Sustainable, Equitable, and Effective 

Today, in advance of pending decisions in Virginia and Maryland, leading environmental  organizations released a “Best Smart Growth Plan” for the American Legion Bridge and Capital  Beltway. The document reviews the current situation and summarizes the consensus  recommendations of the groups. 

Citing the rush by Governor Hogan and Governor Northam to a pre-ordained conclusion to widen the bridge and the Beltway, including Hogan’s push for a premature development contract with TransUrban and his YouTube video trumpeting the Maryland toll lanes, the groups are calling for an immediate pause in the projects and offering a comprehensive land  use, transit and demand management solution that will be more sustainable, equitable, and  effective.

“Governor Hogan has not kept faith with his public promises to complete a solid environmental  study of impacts and alternatives before moving forward with private toll lanes,” said Eliza  Cava, Director of Conservation, Audubon Naturalist Society. “He has instead pressed forward  with a proposal that ranks as highway robbery — not just high tolls, but the theft of national and local parks, historic sites, community peace, wildlife, and a sustainable planet.” 

Meanwhile, the powerful TransUrban corporation, a major donor to politicians on both sides of the river, has been sending out expensive mailers to thousands of Northern Virginia households as part of their lobbying push for the lucrative private toll lanes deal. 

The Fairfax County Board will be meeting on April 13 to discuss their position on 495Next and  the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board will act on the proposal at their April 21 meeting. The Maryland Board of Public Works is scheduled to meet in May to approve the pre-development contract for 495/270, even though the environmental studies are not yet  complete. 

“We are calling for a pause on the interconnected Maryland and Virginia toll lane projects, and are setting forth a sustainable, equitable and effective alternative that should be studied and ultimately adopted,” said Douglas Stewart, Transportation and Smart Growth Co-Chair of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter. “This project should not move forward without plans for high capacity transit and robust, dedicated transit funding from both Maryland and Virginia, in order  to reduce congestion and help jurisdictions meet their goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” 

“We decry the conclusions-first approach of Virginia and Maryland and the way the state’s Public-Private Transportation Acts undermine fair and objective alternatives analysis,” said  Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “Our groups offer here, and have offered before, a comprehensive, integrated land use (transit-oriented  development), transit, and demand management alternative, but both states have refused to  consider such an alternative.” 

“The DMV needs more green space, not less. Governor Hogan’s proposed toll lanes could  bulldoze valuable national parkland and damage delicate ecosystems just to make room for  more fumes, noise, and cars. This proposal threatens local communities of color and a historic African-American church cemetery. This is not a solution to traffic congestion in the area; it’s  another problem,” said Kyle Hart, National Parks Conservation Association. 

“We have the time and must take the time to build the best bridge for people and wildlife. This is a decision that will affect our environment and climate for the next hundred years.” said  Cava. 

“Our plan would improve transportation and reduce traffic, while directly addressing the racial  and socio-economic inequity that continues to mark our region. Investing in transit-oriented development, particularly in the underinvested east side of the region would reduce long  commutes for residents and also create jobs and generate revenue for schools and fund other community benefits, unlike Gov. Hogan’s toll lane proposal,” said Josh Tulkin, Director, Sierra Club Maryland Chapter. 

“WMATA’s Connect Greater Washington study showed that building out transit-oriented  development would reduce driving and traffic on the Beltway, while increasing transit ridership  and converting WMATA’s rail operating subsidy to a surplus.” said Schwartz. “We are calling on all of our elected officials to support a pause, and analysis and adoption of our more  sustainable, equitable and effective alternative,” concluded Schwartz. 

The “Best Smart Growth Plan” can be found here.  

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