Monday, May 20, 2013
Gaithersburg, Ft. Meade, Bethesda, Columbia and College Park could lose some public transportation options.
The Intercounty Connector could lose three of its existing five commuter bus routes by Aug. 1, 2013, according to The Washington Post. Based on low ridership numbers, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is considering axing three commuter bus routes, including: The article notes that initial supporters of the toll highway, which stretches for 18 miles between I-270/I-370 and I-95/US 1, hyped the highway's ability to provide bus transportation. Now, 60 percent of those bus routes, which provided peak-hour weekday service, could end in the coming months. The MTA has scheduled a number of public hearings in the first week of June: If you are unable to attend one of the meetings in person, the MTA will accept comments with a name and …
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Weather permitting, officials will change posted limits on Friday and Saturday.
State transportation officials are set to change signs on the Intercounty Connector (MD-200) this weekend to officially increase the speed limit from 55 mph to 60 mph. Weather permitting, westbound signs will be changed on Friday and eastbound signs on Saturday, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority. Officials said new warning signs for curves have also been added to the highway, which runs between I-270 and I-95 through Montgomery and Prince George's counties. The MDTA elected to raise the speed limit this past winter following engineering studies and crash analysis based the ICC’s first year of operations. “We needed one year of ICC operations and full consideration of the design speed and geometry of the roadway to ensure …
Monday, February 4, 2013
The change will likely take effect on March 31.
The speed limit on the Intercounty Connector is going up, the Maryland Transportation Authority announced Monday. The ICC's speed limit will receive a 5 mph boost, upping the limit to 60 from 55, likely effective on March 31, according to the MDTA. The decision to raise the speed limit comes after an MDTA engineering study and crash analysis. With the crash analysis, traffic engineers examined vehicular crashes for the ICC’s first year of operations between I-270 and I-95. The analysis helped the MDTA confirm that the speed limit may be safely raised to 60 mph. “This is a win for everyone and will certainly please the growing number of drivers who regularly travel the ICC,” Sen. Jennie Forehand said in a statement. “I appreciate the […
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
A House bill that would raise the maximum speed limit on interstates and expressways statewide from 65 to 70 mph will be introduced during the current General Assembly session, The Gazette reports.
A House bill co-sponsored by Del. Aruna Miller (D-Dist. 15), of Darnestown, and Del. Neil Parrott (R-Dist. 2B), of Hagerstown, could force a change in the speed limit on the Intercounty Connector, according to a report by The Gazette. The bill would raise the maximum speed limit on interstates and expressways statewide from 65 to 70 mph, according to the report, and automatically increase the ICC's speed limit from 55 to 70. Miller cited three reasons the change is necessary. “One, the posted speed limit is way too low,” she said, according to the report. “Two, the toll is way too high. And three, the enforcement is excessive.” A separate bill by Sen. Jennie Forehand (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville, would raise the speed limit on the ICC to 60…
Friday, January 18, 2013
WTOP reports that the Colesville ICC Noise Concern Group will continue to advocate for a sound wall near their homes.
For communities without a sound wall but within earshot of the Intercounty Connector, the likelihood of getting some kind of barrier to block noise from the 18-mile road is slim to none, according to state officials associated with the highway project. A group of residents in Colesville isn't letting the grim forecast stop it from fighting for a sound wall, though, WTOP reports. "We're trying everything we can to try and generate some interest in the state to get sound barriers built on Bonifant Road," Rich Burnes, part of the Colesville ICC Noise Concern Group, told the radio station. "There are houses within 400 feet of the ICC and they are hearing the traffic at all hours of the night," Burnes said. Burnes' neighborhood, with a noise …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Montgomery County Council Member Phil Andrews proposes a cut in ICC tolls to get more drivers to use the road, NBC Washington reports.
Montgomery County Council Member Phil Andrews says a deep cut in tolls would increase traffic on the Intercounty Connector and he's calling on the state to do it, NBC Washington reported. Andrews says the $8 round-trip rush-hour toll is among the highest in the nation. He would propose "at least a trial period of several months, if not, a year when the tolls would be...cut in half, in hopes of doubling the traffic," according to the report. A decision on the toll rate is up to the Maryland Transportation Authority. A spokeswoman for the MTA told The Washington Post the ICC is meeting both traffic and revenue projections. The road was designed to carry traffic volumes projected for 2030, according to the report. Andrews said he hopes that …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Crews will be repairing hairline cracks on bridges spanning the central portion of the Intercounty Connector.
Repairing fissures in three bridges along the Intercounty Connector may cause temporary road closures between Norbeck Road and New Hampshire Avenue beginning this week, the State Highway Administration announced. Patch reported that hairline cracks were found in 10 bridges along the toll road of more than 17 miles: SHA currently is working on fixing three: Longmead Crossing Drive, Layhill Road and Notley Road. Officials estimate construction should be complete this winter. Expect shoulder closures and temporary traffic signs, traffic barrels, cones, crash cushions and the concrete barriers used to designate the shoulder closures, SHA said. The bridges will stay open and the shoulder closures should cause “minimal impact” to drivers, the …
One contractor disputes that the company is at fault.
Engineers for Maryland's most high-tech highway are nearly half way to mending hairline fractures found in 10 of the bridges that carry the Intercounty Connector between Gaithersburg and Laurel. Repair work has wrapped up on four of those bridges and is set to start this week on three more. But who’s to blame for cracks at two other bridges remains at question. The contractor who designed those bridges is disputing the state’s assessment that the cracks are the contractor's fault. The ICC’s western third opened in February 2011 amid a flurry of both fanfare and skepticism. Eight months later, inspectors found cracks in three bridges along that 7.2-mile stretch—known as “Contract A”—in the ICC’s “pier caps,” the concrete structures …
Monday, September 10, 2012
A spokesperson for the road says it's still safe.
Maryland's newest state highway is already in trouble. Two bridges that carry Intercounty Connector drivers through East Montgomery County have cracks, state inspectors have found. The ramp near Route 29 and bridge over Route 29 and Briggs Chaney Road have cracks, WTOP reports. A spokesperson for the ICC said the bridges are safe, despite the fissures, which he said impact durability. Independent contractors will foot the bill to repair the bridges. See everything we've written about the Intercounty Connector. Last October, three cracks were found in the road's interchanges at Needwood Road, Emory Lane and Georgia Avenue. The road that stretches from Gaithersburg to Laurel cost the state about $2.56 billion. The eastern portion, from …
Monday, July 16, 2012
A community in Fairland argues that the Intercounty Connector bridge over the Paint Branch needs another sound wall.
The members of Fairland Estates Civic Association have a lot of issues with the Intercounty Connector, an 18-mile east-west highway that backs up into their community of 200 families in East Montgomery County. They say wild animals that lived in heavily forested areas now eliminated by the ICC are coming into their backyards; utility bills have increased because of a wind tunnel effect from the road; trees left behind by construction crews are now weak and at risk for falling on homes and people. Most of all, however, they have an issue with the noise generated by the road. Mainly, it’s the bridge that crosses over Paint Branch. Their community sits just south of the road, beginning at the intersection of Fairland Road and Fairridge Drive…
Costco Gas Man
2:24 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
I love the ICC. more ›