Stop the ICC

Those of you outside the Washington Metro area probably don't know anything about the ICC -- the Inter-County Connector. It is a proposed road to connect two Maryland counties in suburban Washington and would have horrible impacts on the environment.

As a rule, I am opposed to construction of just about any new roads. We need a fundamental rethinking of the way we live -- and that means doing away with the hour-and-a-half commutes, 60-mile commutes.

Anyway, here is her note.

I recently went to an ICC hearing at Gaithersburg High School and next Saturday, January 22nd starting at 9:30am is a final Rally at Blake High School (300 Norwood Road, Silver Spring) to protest the Inter County Connector.

Please check out:  www.iccstudy.org where you can actually see the proposed maps.

But more importantly, go to www.SaveCommunities.org if you are not able to come on Saturday to write your representative www.mdelect.net or Wesley Mitchell, State Highway Administration [email protected] or mail letter to him at SHA office of planning and Preliminary Engineering Mail stop C-301 Box 717 Baltimore, MD  21203-0717 to stop the ICC!

This is truly a horrible disaster in the making, it is a 3 billion dollar waste of money (the 3rd most expensive road project in history)!  It will severly impact the environment depending on the which corridor they go with we are looking at 2-3 thousand acres of farmland wiped out, 3-4 thousand acres of forest wiped out, floodplains, wetlands, streams, reservoirs all wiped out.  This does not even take into account the developmental sprawl that this will create and those that will be uprooted from their exisitng homes.

According to the Maryland State Highway Administration, building the ICC would greatly increase local traffic on MD 28, US 1, 29, 197, and 198, GA Ave, 108, New Hamp Ave,  Conn Ave, etc (just check out the beltway traffic projections for 2030).  Over half the roads studied have either worse traffic or no relief with an ICC!  The ICC would also be a toll road.

Better alternatives exist (metro, mass transit, restriction on sprawl and development)but they are not being take into consideration.

PLEASE HELP STOP THE ICC!

Comments

[Xdm]

It is true. BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME.