Expect years of construction: Md. Beltway, I-270 toll lanes to be built in phases from Legion Bridge

WTOP ^ | November 19, 2018 | Max Smith

[sauropod]

Those Lexus lanes north of 695 are purely for raising revenue, and have nothing to do with traffic congestion.

[sauropod]

Yep, that’s it.

[Calm_Cool_and_Elected]

One of the reasons I left the area in 1981 was the traffic. I dread the road trip to visit family. We are going up for Christmas, dread it like you cannot imagine.

[Boiler Plate]

And before that he was on WRC 980 on the AM dial from 6 to 10PM.

[AbnSarge]

It’s not just the rich - the middle-class neighborhoods along the beltway in Silver Spring are littered with “Stop the Beltway Widening!” signs

[sphinx]

A new Potomac River bridge would only reduce congestion if both Maryland and Virginia imposed serious and lasting growth curbs on suburban sprawl. But since that won't happen, a new bridge will simply push the congestion zone another 20 miles out.

People in Gaithersburg who want to go to the airport can go to BWI, or take metrorail to Dulles or Reagan National.

[VeniVidiVici]

God, I can’t wait to move from this state.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

That bridge is actually going to be replaced beginning next year, IIRC.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

There is a check on sprawl. It’s called “tolls.” Certainly not as high as on the I-66 express lanes, but I do think they would be useful at modest rates, but only in conjunction with actually widening or rehabilitating the freeway on which they’re imposed. Of course, you would need permission from the feds, with their anti-tolling provision being a holdover from a time when the country had only around 200 million people.

Some of the toll revenue could be used to subsidize express buses along the freeway, for people who cannot afford to drive.

[trebb]

Bet they put out portable scanners early - and have them set to over-gouge everyone....”Sorry for that $750.00 bill ma’am, should have been $7.50, but there was a glitch. Just pay the $750.00 so we don’t have to put out a warrant and if we ever fix the glitch, we’ll send you a refund....”