NEWS
By Candus Thomson, The Baltimore Sun | December 2, 2011
Free test drives will end this weekend on the newly opened Intercounty Connector, which links Interstate 370 in Gaithersburg to Interstate 95 in Laurel. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday, motorists will pay tolls based on peak and non-peak use. Drivers without an E-ZPass transponder will receive a bill in the mail for 150 percent of the rate. The Beltsville Motor Vehicle Administration office will be open Saturday and Dec. 10, from 8:30 a.m. to noon, for E-Zpass registration. Preliminary figures released by the Maryland Transportation Authority show that in the first 10 days, the older section of ICC, from I-370 to Georgia Avenue, averaged 48,340 vehicles each day while the newer section between U.S. 29 and I-95 averaged 37,867 vehicles.
NEWS
November 27, 2011
The Sun's article lauding the opening of the Intercounty Connector ("Drivers rejoice as ICC debuts," Nov. 23) quotes failed governor wannabe Douglas Duncan, "I think people will find it is worth it. " If anyone really believed it was worth it, they would have charged a toll that would pay for it. The Sun neglected to mention whether its readers felt the ICC was worth paying doubled tolls on the Baltimore harbor tunnels, the Bay Bridge, and the Susquehanna...
NEWS
By Candus Thomson, The Baltimore Sun | November 22, 2011
They gathered before dawn in a hotel parking lot, determined to prove themselves right. A former state senator. The one-time leader of Maryland's most populous county. Several local business owners. Would the Intercounty Connector, Maryland's most expensive highway, be everything they had promised the public over decades of debate and planning? To answer the question Tuesday morning, just hours after the road opened, these pillars of the community staged a road rally of sorts, pitting two time-honored Gaithersburg-to-Laurel routes against the new highway.
NEWS
By Michael Dresser, The Baltimore Sun | November 17, 2011
Melinda Peters, who has overseen construction of the $2.6 billion Intercounty Connector in suburban Washington, was named Thursday to head the State Highway Administration — an agency under scrutiny after a highly critical legislative audit. The appointment by Gov. Martin O'Malley makes Peters, 38, the first woman to head the agency, which has an annual budget of about $1 billion. The announcement was made as the SHA is completing the ICC, which links Interstates 270 and 95. The new highway is scheduled to open for traffic Tuesday morning.
NEWS
By Michael Dresser, The Baltimore Sun | October 28, 2011
Next month's opening of the main section of the Intercounty Connector linking Interstate 95 with Interstate 270 in Montgomery County is expected to have significant effects on Baltimore's economy as it brings the state's richest job and commercial market a half-hour closer to its largest city. The debut of the new section Nov. 22 will close the gap between the already opened western section of the ICC and I-95 in Prince George's County. Unlike the first section, which has been mostly used for local traffic, the opening of the new stretch is expected to bring immediate benefits to many Baltimore-area drivers for whom the trip to Rockville or Gaithersburg has long been a traffic nightmare.
NEWS
By Michael Dresser, The Baltimore Sun | October 27, 2011
The final section of the Intercounty Connector will be open by 6 a.m. Nov. 22, according to Jack Cahalan, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation. Previously, the state had not said exactly when the section would open. "The weather has played in our favor," Cahalan said. Construction on the toll road, which cost $2.6 billion, started in 2007. The ICC is currently open from Route 97 (Georgia Avenue) through Interstate 370, which feeds into Interstate 270, the main artery between Frederick and Washington.