Saturday, May 18, 2013
Gaithersburg, Ft. Meade, Bethesda, Columbia and College Park could lose some public transportation options.
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 (MTA) 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 …
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Speeds above 90 mph should be allowed on the Intercounty Connector, says a letter in The Washington Post.
The Intercounty Connector recently increased its speed limit 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, Brian Moore, of Bethesda, thinks it's a concept Maryland ought to at least consider 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 …
Friday, March 29, 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 …
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Catch up on the top news in Montgomery County this week.
Report: Study Shows ICC Speed Limit Can Safely Increase To 60 MPH GAITHERSBURG—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. Read more on Gaithersburg Patch. Montgomery Village Man Killed In Gaithersburg Crash GAITHERSBURG—A 21-year-old Montgomery Village man was killed early Sunday in the collision of his Honda Civic and another car on Snouffer School Road in Gaithersburg. Read more at Gaithersburg Patch. New Renderings Unveiled For Bethesda Purple Line Station BETHESDA -- Maryland Transit Administration officials unveiled new renderings Tuesday for the Bethesda station on the planned Purple Line. Funding for the 16-mile light rail line …
Friday, December 21, 2012
Highway officials will analyze crash data on the Intercounty Connector before increasing the speed limit, The Baltimore Sun reported.
Those clamoring for an increase in the Intercounter Connector's 55 mph speed limit may have some positive news on the horizon. 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 reported Thursday. 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 fatality and MdTA Police have recorded just 20 single-vehicle accidents, according to the report. Earlier in December, Montgomery County Council Member Phil Andrews …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Montgomery County Council Member Phil Andrews proposes a cut in ICC tolls to get more drivers to use the road, NBC Washington reports.
Montgomery County Council Member Phil Andrews says a deep cut in tolls would increase traffic on the Intercounty Connector and he's calling on the state to do it, NBC Washington reported. Andrews says the $8 round-trip rush-hour toll is among the highest in the nation. He would propose "at least a trial period of several months, if not, a year when the tolls would be...cut in half, in hopes of doubling the traffic," according to the report. A decision on the toll rate is up to the Maryland Transportation Authority. A spokeswoman for the MTA told The Washington Post the ICC is meeting both traffic and revenue projections. The road was designed to carry traffic volumes projected for 2030, according to the report. Andrews said he hopes that …
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 …
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Montgomery and Prince George's county officials joined U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Monday morning to cut ribbon on first phase of Intercounty Connector.
Politicians and other government officials celebrated the completion of the first section of the Intercounty Connector at a ceremony along the new toll highway Monday morning. The road is scheduled to open to traffic Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 6 a.m.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Representatives from Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, along with state legislators, joined Gov. O’Malley in opening the first stretch of the 18-mile road.
Maryland leaders past and present gathered in the rain on Monday to cut a ceremonial green ribbon, opening the first segment of the Intercounty Connector, which will eventually connect Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Officials say the new toll road is just the beginning of a push toward major improvement in transportation in Washington’s Maryland suburbs. Detractors call the road that will link Interstate 370 and Interstate 95 unnecessary and a drain on the environment but lawmakers stressed that it is a necessary part of other badly needed big-ticket transit projects in the area. “It’s bigger than a road, it really is,” Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown (D) told the crowd of about 200 gathered at the ICC/MD200 intersection in Gaithersburg …
Thursday, January 20, 2011
A report on U.S. traffic delays finds the D.C. area tied with Chicago.
Commuters, the “aha” moment has arrived in the form of a report released Thursday, and it’s not a glee-filled moment. Unfortunately, your worst fears and concerns have been confirmed: The Washington metropolitan area is No. 1 in traffic delays. The Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI) annual study on nationwide traffic congestion paints a bleak picture for our area. The D.C. region consistently ranks on the list of congested areas in the institute’s Urban Mobility Report. In the previous two years, Washington has ranked second to Los Angeles in traffic congestion. “There’s nothing in this report that it’s a surprise to us. They really tell us the obvious — what people experience every day, that congestion is an issue in the central …
Craig Wilson
10:10 am on Sunday, May 19, 2013
Busses are not the answer. Rockville pike busses will be empty. No one wants to ride on a bus. Fix the traffic lights so cars can drive more easily. more ›