The same forces that contended in the decades-long struggle over the Inter-County Connector have drawn new battle lines over a $4.6 billion proposal to widen Interstate 270 in Montgomery and Frederick counties - potentially the most expensive transportation project in Maryland history.
The proposal to add four express toll lanes to the heavily congested highway - at a cost almost twice that of the $2.6 billion ICC - is drawing the support of Montgomery County business leaders and fierce opposition from environmental groups.
Meanwhile, the enormous price - about triple the cost of Baltimore's proposed east-west light rail line - is likely to raise concerns in the Baltimore metropolitan area, which is struggling to meet its own transportation needs. While Montgomery County's planning board recently endorsed one of the most expensive options in a study of the I-270 corridor, costs for the city's Red Line are being pared; planners are even considering running trains both ways on a single track through a mile-long tunnel.
FOR THE RECORD - An article Sunday incorrectly attributed statements by a State Highway Administration official about a proposed widening of Interstate 270. The individual speaking for the SHA was Greg Slater, director of planning and preliminary engineering.
The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.
The ICC was approved with little opposition from Baltimore because of hopes it could improve connections between the state's two biggest population centers, but widening I-270 would have little traffic impact on the city or its suburbs. The price tag will "absolutely" raise concerns among Baltimore-area legislators, said Del. Elizabeth Bobo, a member of the House Environmental Matters Committee.
"Unless I'm missing something, I don't see how it would not drain from other areas of the state," said the Howard County Democrat, who argues that the state needs to make "a real commitment to transit" and not just wider highways.
I-270 runs from the Capital Beltway to Frederick County, which in recent decades has been steadily pulled into Washington's orbit.
Affordable real estate - at least compared with close-in suburbs - and less-than-stringent planning have brought explosive growth to northern Montgomery County and parts of Frederick County. The result: grinding congestion on I-270, arguably the most clogged traffic corridor in Maryland.
Lisa Fadden, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, says the highway widening would help the entire state by fostering growth and tax revenue in the high-tech corridor.
"The bottom line ... is that people in Baltimore and around the state will benefit from a vibrant Montgomery County," she said. Without a wider I-270, "the state will lose revenue as a result of companies not wanting to locate in a congested corridor."
