Intercounty Connector as 'American Autobahn?'

The speed limit on the Intercounty Connector was recently raised from 55 mph to 60 mph. Should it go even higher?

The road—also known as MD 200—was designed for speeds up to 60 mph. But that's not stopping one Washington Post reader from insisting the state should turn the ICC into the American autobahn. The German highway allows drivers many long stretches of road without any speed limit.

In his letter to The Washington Post, Bethesda resident Brian Moore says it's a concept Maryland should at least consider:

Why enforce a speed limit at all? If Maryland had any marketing sense, instead of enforcing speed limits on a road that few people bother to use, it would rebrand the ICC as an American autobahn. When you are as desperate for revenue as the Maryland Transportation Authority is, you have to think outside the box.

Moore's proposal includes designating speed limits for each of the road's three lanes: 65-mph-and-below in the far right, 90-mph-and-below in the middle, and above 90 mph in the left lane.

He speculated that with the region's great number of luxury vehicles, drivers would jump at the chance to "open up the throttle."

To raise the speed limit to 60 mph, the MDTA "needed one year of ICC operations and full consideration of the design speed and geometry of the roadway to ensure that a 60 mph speed limit is safe and justifiable," MDTA Executive Secretary Harold M. Bartlett said in March.

The increase cut 90 seconds off the end-to-end travel along the ICC, which runs from Laurel to Gaithersburg.

Read the full letter at The Washington Post.