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Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete K. Rahn said critics of the state鈥檚 plan to widen the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270 are 鈥減utting their heads in the sand.鈥� And he vigorously defended the Hogan administration鈥檚 decision to engage private sector firms in the design, funding and construction of the highway projects.
Rahn made his comments in a wide-ranging interview with Maryland Matters in Annapolis this week, amid growing pushback from elected leaders in Montgomery and Prince George鈥檚 counties and a significant public outcry.
At a town hall rally on Sunday, Montgomery County Executive Marc B. Elrich (D) called the state鈥檚 public-private partnership plan 鈥渟eriously wrong,鈥� 鈥渟tupid鈥� and destined to fail.
Rahn sharply rejected Elrich鈥檚 claims.
鈥淭o say [that] trying to deal with the cars that are already there is 鈥榮tupid鈥� really is putting your head in the sand and wanting to avoid the truth,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nyone who is attempting to block this is hiding from the facts.鈥�
As Rahn and Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) see it, traffic in the Washington, D.C., suburbs is hurting the state鈥檚 economy, putting Maryland at a competitive disadvantage with Virginia.
Rahn called Virginia 鈥渁 鈥減ioneer鈥� in the use of so-called P3 projects, in which private-sector firms provide upfront costs in exchange for the right to charge tolls on express lanes for five decades, and perhaps longer.
Maryland has pledged 鈥� and federal law requires 鈥� that the number of toll-free lanes will not be reduced.
Tolls will be set by the operator and will fluctuate to keep traffic flowing.
鈥淪ome of the [protest] signs that I鈥檝e seen 鈥� 鈥榯rains, not lanes鈥� 鈥� it鈥檚 a false choice,鈥� Rahn said.
鈥淲e have no money to build roads or more transit. We don鈥檛 have it.鈥�
Local political leaders, the secretary said, have too narrow a constituency to be able to make wise policy choices on interstate roads like the Capital Beltway and I-270.
鈥淚nterstate highways are meant for interstate commerce and interstate travel, and we have to accommodate this travel and commerce that needs to take place,鈥� he said.
鈥淐ouncil people are elected from a confined area. Even a county executive is elected from the confines of the borders of their county. We are having to make decisions that are for the state and incorporating the effects of all of this into our region.鈥�
Rahn also criticized Carol S. Rubin, the Montgomery County Department of Planning鈥檚 coordinator for the I-495/I-270 Managed Lanes Study.
Rubin raised a laundry list of concerns about the state鈥檚 plans in a memo to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. She also accused MDOT of not respecting the expertise of local planning experts and of not providing important information.
Rubin spoke at a town hall, attended by more than 700 people in Silver Spring on Sunday, during which she expressed many of her concerns and frustrations.
鈥淚 find very interesting what she鈥檚 been saying, since she鈥檚 supposed to be a cooperating agency representative on our [National Environmental Policy Act] process,鈥� said Rahn. 鈥淎nd I frankly think it鈥檚 very unprofessional what she鈥檚 been doing. And she鈥檚 also been inaccurate in a number of her statements.鈥�
Rubin wrote that it is 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� that none of the state鈥檚 seven final alternatives for reconfiguring the Beltway and I-270 include mass transit, but Rahn did not elaborate on which of her statements he found to be 鈥渋naccurate.鈥�
While the firms that bid on the right to build Maryland鈥檚 express-toll lanes will make design proposals to the state, Rahn said, it鈥檚 not likely that a dedicated bus-lane will be included in the final plan.
鈥淲e are not envisioning a dedicated lane for buses only,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut allowing public agency transit vehicles to use the express toll lanes is something that鈥檚 on the table. Providing to them a free-flowing access is significant.鈥�
Rahn said he expects the state鈥檚 contract with the concessionaire 鈥� the construction and financing firm 鈥� will include a requirement that variable tolls be set in a manner that keeps traffic flowing at 45 miles an hour.
Other highlights from the interview:
Rahn poured cold water on Elrich鈥檚 proposal to add two reversible lanes to I-270 using existing right-of-way, at much less cost and without a P3.
鈥淲e looked at that鈥� and we couldn鈥檛 come with a solution that met all of the safety conditions that you have to have on an interstate,鈥� he said.
鈥淸Building] two reversible lanes today is a fair solution for today. But as you can see the growth that is occurring in upper Montgomery County into Frederick, there is huge development that is going on within that area. 鈥� [Elrich鈥檚 plan] ignores the future. It鈥檚 a partial solution for today. It鈥檚 not the solution for tomorrow. It鈥檚 just not.鈥�
Rahn also rejected Elrich鈥檚 suggestion that any fix start at 鈥渢he big bottleneck,鈥� the American Legion Bridge.
鈥淔rom an engineering standpoint it would be very costly to try to add onto it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are leaving the option open to the proposers. If they have a way of widening it, we鈥檙e open to it. But our calculations are it would be expensive.鈥�
Rahn said there are 鈥渋ssues鈥� with the proposal to widen Interstate 270 north of I-370, where the highway narrows to two lanes, creating regular backups northbound.
鈥淭he amount of traffic that is on that roadway today is not sufficient to pay for the cost of the expansion of 270 up to Frederick,鈥� he said.
In addition, 鈥渨e are having to undertake a separate environmental study and there are features up there, in the Monocacy Battlefield area and features like that along the way, that really put it into a much different environment than the corridor that we鈥檙e in that鈥檚 already built out.鈥�
Rahn said there is no guarantee that motorists on the I-495 express-toll lanes will be able to exit onto crowded state roads, like Georgia Avenue and New Hampshire Avenue, that cross the Beltway.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 answer that question,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not because the answer would be offensive to somebody. It鈥檚 because we don鈥檛 know what the developers will bring within their proposals as to how they will move traffic off of the express toll lanes.鈥�
鈥淭he concessionaires will model their design and they will be making decisions about access points and what will add traffic versus how much it鈥檚 going to cost to address the construction. Some of these massive flyover interchanges [cost] hundreds of millions of dollars, and there鈥檚 a question about would that cost be recoverable or are there less impactful ways, and I believe there are less impactful ways.鈥�
Rahn scoffed at the suggestion, expressed by many of the residents who attended Sunday鈥檚 town hall in Montgomery County, that the reconstructed Beltway and 270 include a bike lane.
鈥淗igh-speed traffic like that is really not a place a bike should be,鈥� he said. Plus, 鈥測ou need right-of-way for that, and right-of-way is precious in here.鈥�
Rahn said taxpayers will not be on the hook financially if a concessionaire fails. If that happens, he said, the firm will lose the money it invested 鈥� its 鈥渆quity stake鈥� 鈥� and that bondholders who funded the rest of the highway upgrade will 鈥渞econstitute鈥� the project in order to recoup as much money as they can.
鈥淭here have been three, that I鈥檓 aware of, that have gone bust, and they鈥檝e all functioned [this way],鈥� he said.
鈥淎t no point in any of this is the state on the hook for any of it. Zero. If it fails, the protection we have is these bondholders are going to take it over because they鈥檝e got to get something out of it. So they will continue to operate the toll road and if they can operate it [at a profit], they鈥檒l continue to operate it. If they see it鈥檚 a money loser for them, they will sell the asset to another toll operator at a discount.鈥�
In the final analysis, Rahn said, the decision to widen 270 and the Beltway is driven by the region鈥檚 worsening traffic, the state鈥檚 inability to fund construction itself, and the benefits of having the private sector being on the hook for maintenance of the two roads, freeing up state funds for other projects.
鈥�270 and 495 are old interstates that have really reached the end of their useful life,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have 165 structures 鈥� culverts, bridges, all these things 鈥� within this corridor, and they need to be replaced. Our estimated cost on this is $1.7 billion.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have $1.7 billion,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭hat means we鈥檙e going to see more potholes. We鈥檙e going to see more signs of an old roadway. The great thing about the P3 is it鈥檚 going to replace the existing lanes too. We鈥檙e talking about an entirely new roadway, not just two new lanes.鈥�
Rahn said corporate executives have told him they won鈥檛 move to suburban Maryland because of the region鈥檚 traffic woes.
鈥淚f we continue to keep our head in the sand, we will find the day that choices of significant employers will just simply say, 鈥榁irginia is a better place to operate than is Maryland.鈥� And I think transportation will be will be one of the significant factors in their choice of where they鈥檙e going to operate.
鈥淲e can head this off. We can address this. But we have to do it now.鈥�
