Monday, May 20, 2013
The Maryland Transit Administration is considering a plan to end three of its five routes on the Intercounty Connector.
The Intercounty Connector could lose three of its existing five commuter bus routes by Aug. 1, 2013, according to The Washington Post. Based on low ridership numbers, the Maryland Transit Administration is considering axing three commuter bus routes, including: The article notes that initial supporters of the toll highway, which stretches for 18 miles between I-270/I-370 and I-95/US 1, hyped the highway's ability to provide bus transportation. Now, 60 percent of those bus routes, which provided peak-hour weekday service, could end in the coming months. The MTA has scheduled a number of public hearings in the first week of June: If you are unable to attend one of the meetings in person, the MTA will accept comments with a name and postal …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Speeds above 90 mph should be allowed on the Intercounty Connector, argues one Bethesda resident.
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: 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 …
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Weather permitting, officials will change posted limits on Friday and Saturday.
State transportation officials are set to change signs on the Intercounty Connector (MD-200) this weekend to officially increase the speed limit from 55 mph to 60 mph. Weather permitting, westbound signs will be changed on Friday and eastbound signs on Saturday, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority. Officials said new warning signs for curves have also been added to the highway, which runs between I-270 and I-95 through Montgomery and Prince George's counties. The MDTA elected to raise the speed limit this past winter following engineering studies and crash analysis based the ICC’s first year of operations. “We needed one year of ICC operations and full consideration of the design speed and geometry of the roadway to ensure …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Main developer says the project will proceed.
- BUSINESS
-
Monday, March 18
The partnership behind the ambitious Konterra town center development proposed for Prince George's County has fallen apart, The Washington Post reported. The Gould Family, owner of Gould Property Co., had partnered with Forest City Washington on the planned multibillion-dollar project near Interstate-95 and the Intercounty Connector that would have totaled nearly two-thirds the size of Tysons Corner, the report said. But Deborah Ratner Salzberg, president of Forest City Washington, said at the end of last week that the two companies have parted ways, the Post reported. Kingdon Gould III, of Gould Property, told the Post that Konterra would proceed and that housing and retail will begin to be built "organically." Gould also reportedly …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
A letter to the editor about raising the speed limit on the Intercounty Connector and other state highways.
The following is a letter from Fred Flaharty, a Montgomery County school bus driver, in regards to a late January story about the Intercounty Connector potentially having a 70 mph speed limit: The bill that would raise the maximum speed limit on interstates and expressways statewide from 65 to 70 miles per hour is an incredibly BAD IDEA!....no...INSANE idea. As a regular daily driver of the ICC both in my personal car (twice per day) and as the driver of a Montgomery County school bus (4 trips per day) I protest in the strongest possible terms this proposed raising of the speed limit on the ICC. There are several important reasons for this the first of which is the road was never designed for faster speeds as are interstate highways. As is…
Monday, February 4, 2013
The change will likely take effect on March 31.
The speed limit on the Intercounty Connector is going up, the Maryland Transportation Authority announced Monday. The ICC's speed limit will receive a 5 mph boost, upping the limit to 60 from 55, likely effective on March 31, according to the MTA. The decision to raise the speed limit comes after an MTA engineering study and crash analysis. With the crash analysis, traffic engineers examined vehicular crashes for the ICC’s first year of operations between I-270 and I-95. The analysis helped the MDTA confirm that the speed limit may be safely raised to 60 mph. “This is a win for everyone and will certainly please the growing number of drivers who regularly travel the ICC,” Sen. Jennie Forehand said in a statement. “I appreciate the [MTA…
Friday, December 21, 2012
But highway officials will analyze crash data on the Intercounty Connector before increasing the speed limit
Those clamoring for an increase in the Intercounter Connector's 55 mph speed limit may have reason to celebrate. An engineering study of the ICC has concluded that the speed of the highway can safely be raised to 60 mph, pending an analysis of crash data, The Baltimore Sun reports. The accident review of the toll road is expected to be completed by the end of February, at which point the Maryland Transportation Authority will make a decision on the speed limit, according to the report. The highway—designed for speeds up to 60 mph—has yet to see a fatal accident, and MdTA Police have recorded just 20 single-vehicle accidents, according to the report. Earlier in December, Montgomery County Council Member Phil Andrews said the toll road was …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
One contractor disputes that the company is at fault.
Engineers for Maryland's most high-tech highway are nearly half way to mending hairline fractures found in 10 of the bridges that carry the Intercounty Connector between Gaithersburg and Laurel. Repair work has wrapped up on four of those bridges and is set to start this week on three more. But who’s to blame for cracks at two other bridges remains at question. The contractor who designed those bridges is disputing the state’s assessment that the cracks are the contractor's fault. The ICC’s western third opened in February 2011 amid a flurry of both fanfare and skepticism. Eight months later, inspectors found cracks in three bridges along that 7.2-mile stretch—known as “Contract A”—in the ICC’s “pier caps,” the concrete structures …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Nearly 650,000 vehicle owners owe about $6.7 million in unpaid tolls dating back five years, The Washington Post reported.
- LOCAL CONNECTIONS
- Greg Cohen
-
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
What's to stop Maryland drivers from blowing through an E-ZPass toll lane without a transponder? Apparently not much of anything. Thousands of vehicles are repeatedly using E-ZPass lanes without an E-ZPass transponder, and the state is doing little to collect the millions of dollars in unpaid tolls, The Washington Post reported. In total, nearly 650,000 vehicle owners owe about $6.7 million in unpaid tolls dating back five years, the Maryland Transportation authority told The Washington Post. Some of the biggest offenders are rental car companies, The Post reported. One company owes the state nearly $209,000 in unpaid tolls and penalties despite having received nearly 7,000 letters over four years and eight others owe between $80,000 and…
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Residents take to completed ICC in commuter race.
It was a roadway showdown of sorts -- to mark the opening of the next section of the Inter County Connector. Residents and officials from local regional transportation groups challenged each other to drive the different routes between Gaithersburg and Laurel, both using the new highway and not using it. The section that opened today will allow commuters to drive quickly from I-370 in Montgomery County to I-95 in Prince George's County. All that remains to be built of the 18.2-mile highway is a small stretch connecting I-95 to Route 1. That section is set to begin construction later this year or early next year. Members of the Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance created a challenge to see who could reach the ICC’s end point near West…
the King of Laurel
4:10 pm on Monday, May 20, 2013
You sure have that right. more ›