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The Prince George鈥檚 County Council is urging state leaders to conduct comprehensive environmental and financial reviews of the Hogan administration鈥檚 plans to widen the Capital Beltway before entering into any contracts with private-sector firms.
A resolution the panel adopted this week mirrors language that legislators opposed to the administration鈥檚 Interstate 495 and I-270 expansion plans attempted to pass in the General Assembly. That measure passed the House of Delegates but died in the state Senate.
The Prince George鈥檚 council resolution, which passed 9-0, urges the state鈥檚 Board of Public Works to require an 鈥渋ndependent鈥� assessment of the public-private partnership process the governor has proposed using to widen the two roads.
It also urged the board 鈥� comprising the governor, comptroller and treasurer 鈥� to require聽an environmental-impact statement before any contracts greater than $500 million are signed.
The state estimates it will cost between $9 billion and $11 billion to add two toll-only 鈥渆xpress鈥� lanes in each direction on the highways.
鈥淭he state has a lot more work to do on this one before we鈥檙e ready to move forward with the project,鈥� said Councilmember Dannielle M. Glaros, a Democrat who chairs the panel鈥檚 Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no need to rush into the biggest P3 (public-private partnership) project in the country,鈥� she said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 get it right.鈥�
The council also approved a resolution reaffirming its opposition to the transfer of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway聽from the National Park Service, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, to the state of Maryland.
At the 2017 announcement of his highway widening plan, Hogan unveiled plans to gain control of the parkway from the federal government and to expand it by two lanes in each direction.
鈥淲e still see the governor trying to advance transportation alternatives that haven鈥檛 been fully vetted and/or agreed to by local jurisdictions,鈥� said Council President Todd M. Turner, a Democrat.
The vote on this resolution was 11-0.
Turner said the council is concerned both about Hogan鈥檚 road-widening plans and the talk of a federally-funded magnetic levitation train, known as Maglev, being built between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, though Prince George鈥檚 County neighborhoods.
鈥榃e鈥檝e been seeing a very top-down approach from state government,鈥� Glaros said. 鈥淸Maryland Route] 295 goes through many of our communities. It was designed as a parkway. Any conversation about the transfer of it should involve the local communities and the local counties.鈥�
State transportation officials insist that Maryland鈥檚 approach 鈥� in which private-sector firms fund construction and maintenance of the roads in exchange for the right to charge tolls on the new lanes 鈥� is necessary because MDOT lacks the money to do the projects itself.
鈥淎nyone who is attempting to block this is hiding from the facts,鈥� Transportation Secretary Pete K. Rahn said during a wide-ranging interview in Annapolis on Wednesday.
鈥淲e鈥檙e attempting to address [our congested roads] as a system, so it鈥檚 not just a piece here and a piece there.鈥�
In a letter late last week, Montgomery County Executive Marc B. Elrich, a Democrat and a vocal critic of the state鈥檚 plans, urged the county Planning Board to effectively block Maryland鈥檚 road-widening efforts by refusing to make available the undeveloped county-owned parcels that would be needed to complete the widening projects.
鈥淚 am writing to ask that you do not cede any parkland to the state of Maryland for any project that would widen the beltway,鈥� Elrich wrote.
鈥淢any of our parks, trees and streams are in an increasingly fragile state. We should take all necessary steps to protect these resources as part of our efforts to maintain clean water and air and to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change.鈥�
Rahn, who indicated he is aware of the criticism from elected officials, planners and citizens聽in the two counties, insisted that the state鈥檚 responsibility to facilitate the flow of commercial, commuter and interstate traffic on the Beltway and 270 requires the bold approach Hogan has laid out.
鈥淲e are proceeding with express-toll lanes. We鈥檙e going to do it responsibly. We鈥檒l do it within the confines of [the National Environmental Policy Act], and we have made commitments about how we鈥檙e going to do as little impact as we possibly as can. 鈥� But we must do something and we must act now.鈥�
