Maryland should invest $5.8 billion in Beltway, study says

The Washington Post ^ | April 4, 2012 | Ashley Halsey III

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Maryland’s top transportation priority should be a $5.8 billion project to widen the entire Capital Beltway, from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to the American Legion Bridge, a leading national transportation group said Wednesday.

The first step would be the investment of $800 million to relieve the weekday congestion between Interstate 270 and the American Legion Bridge by widening the roadway, adding High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes and designating lanes where the direction of traffic could be reversed to accommodate the flow of the morning and evening rush hours.

The Beltway recommendations topped the list of 40 Maryland transportation projects prioritized by TRIP, a national nonprofit transportation study group supported by insurance companies, unions, equipment manufacturers and firms engaged in highway and transit construction.

In a report released Wednesday, the group said that Maryland’s recovery from the recession and its future economic viability depended on investment in relieving congestion and improving mobility.

“Maryland’s transportation system has significant deficiencies that could prevent the state from reaching its full economic potential,” the report said. “Maryland’s economy and quality of life could be adversely affected if its transportation system cannot provide for the efficient movement of goods and people.”

The cost of the top 10 projects TRIP (The Road Information Program) listed amounted to almost $13.7 billion.

In addition to the Capital Beltway project, they include replacing the Gov. Harry W. Nice Bridge in Charles County ($885 million); widening the Baltimore beltway ($1.2 billion); building the state’s Purple Line from Bethesda to New Carrollton ($1.9 billion); widening and adding interchanges on Route 5 in Prince George’s ($1.1 billion); widening Route 295 to six lanes near Baltimore ($220 million); building Baltimore’s Red Line light rail from Woodlawn to Bayview Medical Center ($2.2 billion); widening U.S. 29 northbound to three lanes ($104 million)...

[muawiyah]

The first target was the far shorter leg from American Legion Bridge to I270.

That occurred as a problem due to MD corrupt politics.

Widening the Beltway all the way down to Wilson Bridge might or might not be a good idea ~ I was thinking they could simply double-deck it and add more interchanges ~ might make it more useful.

NOTE: The every two centuries earthquake already happened so it's not going to fall down.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Another payoff to the unions and wise guys.

[386wt]

All this congestion on these routes is directly due to the wild growth of our National government.

[denydenydeny]

so they jack the tolls on ALL other bridges and tolls to pay for it

Don't I know it. Driving home to PA yesterday, I got off 95 to avoid the $8 toll for the Tydings Bridge...and paid $6 for the Hatem Bridge. Governmental greed is a million times worse than "corporate greed" because you can't avoid government.

The thing about the Beltway is....ANYWHERE ELSE THEY WOULD BE PUSHING SOME NEW "LIGHT RAIL" SCHEME. But here, in DC, is where the bureaucrats work...and they MUST be allowed to drive to work, unlike the peasants in the rest of the country.

[the invisib1e hand]

dc gets delusional and maryland gets schizophrenic. Or something like that.

[House Atreides]

“All this congestion on these routes is directly due to the wild growth of our National government.”
***********************************************************
Correctamundo. The recent GSA Vegas flap is a very tiny slice of the tip of the iceberg of unneeded government spending. All the US Government Headquarters in DC & vicinity need VAST reduction in number of employees. They wouldn’t be missed. That will ease the congestion.

[wolfman23601]

Isn’t that the truth. Here in SE VA, they are not only pushing the light rail scheme at all cost, but governor McTollbooth is erecting tolls all over the state except North of Fredericksburg where the bureaucrats in Northern Virginia will continue to skate free at the expense of everyone else. He already has 2 tolls going up in Norfolk on existing free roads and he is scheming to toll all the bridges and tunnels in the area and all the interstates from the NC border to Fredericksburg.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I heard Governor no-tax-utopia PPP-head only wants to toll I-95.

I normally don’t support tax increases, but raising the states gas tax to equal its 1987 value (which would mean doubling its nominal value) might be in order here, to avoid so many tolls and PPPs from Governor Norquist-Tax-Pledge-Like Man.

(Full disclosure: I would support the proposed increase in Maryland’s state gas tax if Martin O’Moron didn’t spend so much of it on (A) balancing the general budget and (B) mass transit schemes.)