While I don't share your Baltimore Guy sentiment, I can think of many, many better things to do with $4.6 billion. I can think of many things that won't make ourselves worse off than when we started due to induced demand.

I-270 was widened in the late 1980's and was jammed again by the early to mid 1990's. That should be enough of a lesson right there. Albert Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. By that criteria, the rationale for this widening proposal is insane.

We could fund the Red Line more, and continue to fill in a rail system in Baltimore to try to restore what was lost in 1961. Baltimore is just as much of a economic engine than anywhere else in the state. (I say that as a Montgomery County resident who works in downtown DC) Just because it's old and not filled with awful suburban office parks doesn't mean that it's not critical that we restore its rail transit. With a complete rail transit system, it will yield higher economic multipliers than any highway project could.

If we want to get into an argument about keeping that money in the Washington region, we could easily use the money to build a separate Yellow Line or streetcars or boulevardizing MD355. I can just think of so many better ways to spend that money on something that will actually yield economic benefits. Widening that highway won't do anything except add sprawl, add congestion, harm the environment, and make our future repair bills higher. Just insane.

"I-270 is the economic engine of the state"? There is apparently no shortage of hubris in Montgomery County.

I definitely don't agree. The toll for the bridge on Rt. 301 between Virginia and Maryland was doubled to pay for Baltimore area improvements. Tax money is one big pool everyone pays into, and it gets used for whatever the state decides. Every region gets hosed eventually, so get over it.

It cost the U.S. about $8 billion (adjusted for inflation) to build the Panama Canal, which has had an obvious and lasting economic benefit for the nation and world. These days, we're willing to put in $4.6 billion into a highway project that has dubious economic benefits and a very short lifespan of less than 25 years.

"These days, we're willing to put in $4.6 billion into a highway project that has dubious economic benefits and a very short lifespan of less than 25 years."

And we aren't willing to put that amount into transit projects that will operate for generations.

It's a sad state of affairs.

Not one dime should be spent on any trust fund projects until they widen I-695 on the northeast side from I-83 to I-95. This is THE most congested peice of real estate on the interstate system in MD and has had no upgrade since the 70's. Don't even talk to me about I-270 until this meass gets fixed first!