Wider I-270 would take 5 times more homes than ICC
Here's an interesting tidbit from the State Highway Administration's winter 2009 newsletter on the I270 corridor study: Widening the highway the way the Montgomery County Planning Board wants to do it would kick 251 families out of their homes.
That's right. This $4.6 billion boondoggle would confiscate five times more homes than the Inter-county Connector -- which has required a mere 47 "residential displacements" as tthey are kknown in transportation wonk-speak.
For context, the transit portion of the I-270 study -- known as the Corridor Cities Transiitway -- would take 5-9 homes. The proposed Red Line through the heart of Baltimore would take nobody's home.
The list of reasons for questioning this grandiose project just gets longer and longer the more one looks at it. I'm still waiting for an explanation of how it can be built without raising Baltimore-area tolls. I haven't heard anything yet. Anyone want to enlighten me?
Comments
The volume of cars and trucks, people and products would dwarf the utility of the Corridor Cities Transitway. Further, the reason only about 50 homes was taken by the ICC was because it was planned for so long.
250 homes in the context of the 10s of thousands of homes in Montgomery County is what needs to be compared. The long term demands also need to be considered, which apparently you havent done.
One more thing that would reduce the demand on I-270 would be an additional river crossing to Virginia between American Legion Bridge and Point of Rocks.
Posted by: Tom | August 22, 2009 5:47 PM
Tom has it, the purpose of the I-270 widening is to increase the volume of traffic headed to clarksville in order meet the long-term needs of sprawl-oriented developers at the expense of the taxpayers. If the developers wanted to build compact transit-oriented communities, they would do it at one of the many properties available near pre-existing transit stations. If they didn't want to build sprawling auto-dependent communites, they wouldn't be building way out on the Clarkville frontier.
If more people get kicked out of their houses to widen the freeway to these new developments, then maybe they will consider buying into the new houses out in clarksville.
COMMENT: Lee, you're right on point but i think you're referring to Clarksburg, not Clarksville.
Posted by: Lee | August 22, 2009 8:43 PM
I've got news for everyone. The traffic is there already. It is ridiculous that the government cannot just serve the demand that is already there. Governments should not be in the business of punishing people for choosing to live where they want to live; they should merely react to the demand that exists.
Families are affected dramatically by the lack of capacity in I-270 everyday. The highway has needed to be expanded for over a decade. This project is an absolute necessity.... 270 has carried the worst traffic in the state for a long time; nothing in the Baltimore area even comes close.
Posted by: t. paine | August 23, 2009 10:30 AM
Here Here t paine! Agree one hundred percent.
Posted by: clw | August 24, 2009 9:55 AM
Dresser keep it up. The widening of 270 is being voisted on us by chamber of commerce types and developers who have only their own interests at heart. I'm an average, unemployed white guy in MOCO and I think this is a huge repoff. They should spend the money on rapid bus systems all over the county.
Posted by: sgunner | August 25, 2009 8:00 PM