Feds Opposes New Maryland Highway Construction

The Montgomery County Council voted 6-3 yesterday to approve plans for a new major highway despite EPA and Federal Highway Administration opposition. "Both . . . alternatives [routes] have significant adverse impacts to the environment," Welsh wrote to Nelson J. Castellanos, division administrator for the Federal Highway Administration. The Innercounty Connector (ICC) would link Interstate 95 with Interstate 270, the two busiest highway corridors in Maryland. Supporters argue that road would drastically reduce travel times to and from the Baltimore-Washignton International Aiport, the Port of Baltimore, and the I-270 technology corridor. Some traffic models also estimate that the ICC would reduce congestion on the Beltway around Washington. Opponents of the highway say the project encourages sprawl and will irreversibly harm area streams, wetlands, and forest

Thanks to Peter Buryk