American Dream

See also articles on BaltimoreSun.com Route for ICC is selected; WashingtonPost.com Md. Officials Pick Southern ICC Route; the Gazette newspapers Ehrlich chooses southern ICC route; and a short video (broadband suggested) of Maryland Gov. Ehrlich's remarks (with an excellent, snappy comment directed at obstructionist groups and persons at the end - on a hot Maryland July afternoon).

Here's a really bad Washington Post story about the impact of the ICC on a community that was planned, platted and built under the assumption that the highway would run through it: In Md. Community, It's Fight or Flight - With Decision on Highway Route, Neighbors Consider Undesirable Options.

Additional stories in the Washington Post Once Politically Divisive, ICC Slowly Gained Favor - Marginalized Foes Promise to Fight On and Baltimore Sun ICC path to follow southern route plan - Proposal minimizes homes razed, but will disrupt environment.

Southern Route Chosen for ICC Project
Updated: Monday, Jul. 11, 2005 - 3:25 PM

ROCKVILLE, Md. - Saying the "voices of the past have been defeated," Governor Robert Ehrlich has unveiled the state's preferred route for the Inter County Connector.

With some protesters nearby, Ehrlich announced the decision to start the toll road at the intersection of Interstates 270 and 370. It will have limited exits including Layhill Road and New Hampshire Avenue, then end at U.S. One in Laurel.

The road linking Montgomery and Prince George's counties has been talked about for decades. But the governor vows his announcement is "one of the last milestones before we break ground."

Protesters standing feet away from Ehrlich insist the ICC will make traffic worse. Ehrlich says he respects dissent, but that the majority view is that the road must be built.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

ICC Would Follow County's Proposal

Updated: Monday, Jul. 11, 2005 - 2:26 PM

Mitchell Miller, WTOP Radio
Colleen Kelleher, wtopnews.com

WASHINGTON - The proposed InterCounty Connector route that Montgomery County has had on the books for 40 years appears to be the choice of state officials.

"The vibes we have felt to date are for the master plan alignment," says Nancy Floreen, who heads the Montgomery County Council's Transportation Committee.

"I can't imagine a rationale that could justify a different alternative."

A 2:30 p.m. news conference is planned to make the announcement. The news conference will be held at Veirs Mill Road and Maryland Route 28.

The highway would link Interstate 270 in Gaithersburg and Interstate 95 in Laurel.

The state already owns much of the right of way for the southern alignment that's been in Montgomery County's master plan.

A number of planning and zoning decisions have been based on the master plan alignment for the ICC.

"The ICC has been shown in study after study to do more to relieve traffic on our local roads than any other project out there," says Richard N. Parsons, president of Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.

The ICC would take traffic off Norbeck Road, Georgia Avenue and Route 198, Parsons says.

"Basically that trip from I-95 to I-270 would be reduced by about half an hour in each direction," Parsons says. "If you're making that commute every day, you're getting an hour back in your life every day that you're not stuck in traffic."

But Ben Ross, president of the Montgomery County advocacy group Action Committee for Transit, says building more roads won't unclog existing roads. He says Maryland is moving too slowly in studying more subway options.

He says the state is studying the idea of rapid buses from College Park to Bethesda as a substitute for building rail. He calls the idea a "joke."

"They would run on the same streets in traffic and they wouldn't even go by the most direct route, so they wouldn't be very rapid," Ross says.

"Things are moving very slowly. They're talking about having a report out in another year or so. But, the deadlines keep moving back."

Still on the drawing board is the idea of a subway from Bethesda to New Carrollton, but Ross says the governor doesn't want it to run past Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase.

"We think that building rail will give people a way that they don't have to drive on the Beltway," Ross says. "The need is so overwhelming that eventually it will happen, but we don't want to wait 20 or 30 years for it."

Gov. Bob Ehrlich has said he wants work to begin on the ICC by fall of 2006.

WTOP's Neal Augenstein and Kristi King contributed to this report.

(Copyright 2005 by WTOP. All rights reserved.)

Official Maryland Department of Transportation ICC Web site

GOVERNOR’S PRESS OFFICE: GOVERNOR EHRLICH ANNOUNCES PREFERRED ROUTE FOR INTERCOUNTY CONNECTOR (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 42 KB)
Benefits of Corridor 1 (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 20 KB)
Map of preferred alternative (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 143 KB)