Proposed I-270 toll lanes draw ire during open house

July 7, 2004

A proposal to add express toll lanes along Interstate 270 elicited concerns from residents at an open house last week.

State representatives answered questions and residents offered feedback about the proposal at a meeting held June 29 at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Germantown. A second meeting was held the next night in Frederick.

The proposal would add two toll lanes in each direction from Interstate 370 in Gaithersburg to Biggs Ford Road in Frederick.

The toll would increase or decrease depending on the amount of congestion to ensure the toll lanes continue to flow. The pricing structure for the toll lanes has not been determined.

Michael Perrotta, project manager for the Maryland State Highway Administration, said the toll lanes are one of many options being considered for the corridor.

"The goal is to relieve congestion," he said. "There's no one solution in this corridor, due to the sheer congestion and volumes. There needs to be a combination of strategies and methods."

By 2025, levels of service along I-270 are expected to be "failing," according to transportation planners.

The proposed alternate, including toll lanes, road widening and infrastructure improvements, is projected to cost $2.3 billion. Tolls paid by drivers would offset some of the construction costs.

The option to add the toll lanes is being studied as part of the state's I-270/U.S. 15 Multi-Modal Corridor Study. A team has been charged to "investigate options that address congestion, increase mobility and improve safety conditions." Planning began in 1994.

Express toll lanes are also being considered for portions of Interstates 95, 495 and 695.

Residents who attended the open forum asked questions about congestion, lane pricing and land value.

"I have a problem with the fact that the whole toll lanes idea jumped in after the 2002 public comment period," Rockville resident Michael Wallace said, referring to the alternates presented two years ago that did not consider toll lanes.

Perrotta explained that technology was at fault.

"At that time, the technology was still being developed so that you could go full highway speeds and still be tolled," he said. "With E-ZPass, you have to slow down. With this, you wouldn't."

To use the lanes, drivers would place a sticker on their car's windshield and a machine at the entrance to the toll lanes would read the identification number as the car passes into the lanes. The system would deduct money from a driver's pre-established account each time the car passes by a toll lane sensor. Tolls could be collected every mile or two, state representatives said.

From Biggs Ford Road to the proposed interchange at Newcut Road in Clarksburg, the toll lanes would be separated from the free lanes by "buffer separation," using striping, pylons or curbing. From Newcut Road to I-370, the toll lanes would have "barrier separation," and drivers would access the lanes through direct access ramps. These ramps are proposed at Newcut, Routes 118, 124 or 117, and I-370.

The open house included promotional descriptions of similar initiatives in San Diego and Orange County, Calif. Perrotta said express toll lanes' funding capabilities and success in California make the option attractive.

"We're not taking away any free lanes," he stressed.

Germantown resident Deborah Franklin didn't think a toll lane would help her.

"It's great for people up in Frederick," she said. "They are the only people who are going to benefit from this thing."

She was most concerned about the roadwork that would result from the project.

"All I can see in this is construction, construction, construction," she said.

Clarksburg resident Lynne Rosenbusch expressed similar skepticism. "All the development in Clarksburg and Urbana -- whew!" she said, referring to the recent growth. "This won't ever be able to catch up with what's happening."

Rockville resident Jim Clarke called it a "novel concept."

"If you have to get somewhere fast, you're going to use the lane," he said. But he wasn't confident about the state's revenue predictions.

"I'm skeptical that they're going to raise the amount of money that the secretary of transportation says they will," he said.

State Highway Administration representatives have traveled to California to research express toll lane initiatives on the West Coast. Perrotta said they weren't "Lexus lanes," as the lanes are sometimes nicknamed due to the types of luxury car drivers who can afford to pay for faster travel.

"It's not just for the rich, that's what we found out," he said. "It spans all economic classes."

For one group of residents, the meeting was about more than a toll. The five options for I-270 presented in 2002 included the displacement of 35 homes along Staleybridge Road in the Fox Chapel area of Germantown. A study conducted in 2003 offered an alternative that would result in no displacements, but would put a retaining wall close to several homes.

Fox Chapel resident Phil Kaelin was frustration about the delay in making a formal decision.

"Do you know how disruptive this is to our lives?" he asked a state highway representative. He pointed to his neighborhood: "What I would really like is for someone on the commission to live there."

Several of Kaelin's neighbors shared similar sentiments. Evelyn Triplett said she feared losing most of her back yard.

"I don't want to reach out and touch the wall," she said.

But at the same time, traffic isn't getting any better along the interstate.

"No wonder people have road rage!" Triplett joked. "I don't dare get on 270 northbound on Friday nights, unless I want to sit in traffic for an hour."

Other residents wondered why public transit alternatives aren't stressed by the new option.

"I'd like to see more progress on the Corridor Cities Transitway," Clarksburg resident John Fauerby said. "Car projects always seem to take priority over public transit projects. ... They need to encourage people to get out of their cars."

The transitway, which could include light rail or express bus service, would primarily be used for short-distance trips, according to the study.

"Longer trips would be better served by the proposed highway improvements," according to the study.

Perrotta said the Corridor Cities Transitway is part of the multi-modal study, and that there is no preference to either toll lanes or the transitway.

"It's moving forward along the same planning process," he said.

The toll lane proposal does not include reduced fares for carpoolers. Wallace said additional carpool lanes would be preferable to toll lanes because they would cause fewer cars to be on the road.

"This is unlike HOV, which can be on or off," he said. The express toll lanes would operate around the clock. "I don't think it maximizes the use of the road."

By the end of 2004, the project team will recommend one of the options to the state highway administrator. Early next year, the administrator will make a decision. Other state and federal agencies will then offer their recommendations.

"No decision has been made and this is just an option that we're adding to the menu of alternatives being considered," Perrotta stressed. "For the entire project, we're talking years -- well into the teens before it will be completed."