Feds Block Maryland Toll Lane Project

A plan to build four toll lanes on Maryland’s Capital Beltway and Interstate 270 was blocked by the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), potentially delaying the project beyond Governor Larry Hogan (R)’s term, which ends in January. According to an article by Bruce DePuyt in Maryland Matters, “Hogan said Maryland was ‘completely blindsided’ by the move and he accused acting Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack of issuing a ‘rogue’ decision against the recommendations of agency staff.”

Some backstory: “In June, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D), urged that a final decision on the project be delayed to give people more time to read the report. Shortly thereafter, transit advocate Ben Ross pressed the U.S. Department of Transportation to look into ‘possible scientific fraud,’ after he said he found unexplained changes in the traffic models the state used to determine how much time motorists would save by using toll lanes.”

Some residents opposed Hogan’s plan for the ‘express lanes’ from the beginning. “It also drew condemnation from environmentalists, transit advocates and local leaders. Pointing to the sometimes eye-popping tolls that Virginia motorists pay, some critics maintained that only upper-income people would derive benefit from the new lanes.”

Hogan insists he has scaled down the plan and agreed to requests from local leaders such as letting transit vehicles pass for free and adding a bike and pedestrian pathway. Noting that the delays have added 20 percent to the total cost of the project, Hogan “pledged to continue his pressure campaign on the Biden administration and federal transportation officials to ‘immediately’ rescind their delay.”