Uh, Oh. Someone is Organizing for Broken
Luxury Lane Promises and Reckless Spending
State legislators are receiving form e-mails telling them not to pass bills that would force MDOT to fulfill the promises its made for the $11 billion I-495/I-270 Luxury Lane expansion and bring transparency and accountability to future public private partnerships (P3s). The form letters claim the bills would kill jobs. (We've seen one.)
Jobs are important. Economic development is important. But so are credibility, accountability, and transparency. Without them who can take promises for jobs, traffic relief, or no-cost to taxpayers seriously.
For example: MDOT has already walked back important promises for the Luxury Lane P3 – like promising it won’t cost taxpayers a dime, it won’t require any homes to be torn down, and that the environmental impact statement will be finished before any contracts are sent to the Board of Public Works for approval.
This is why we are supporting HB67, introduced by Del. Marc Korman (D-16), which would hold MDOT to its remaining promises -- like requiring union wages on Luxury Lane construction jobs and reserving 10 percent of any future toll revenues for public transportation projects.
We also don’t understand why anyone would seriously oppose protecting taxpayers from another Purple Line P3 fiasco. Taxpayers are diverting $250 million from other priorities to complete a project that wasn't supposed to cost us a dime because the P3 collapsed.
Taxpayers are right to establish new standards of transparency and creating an Independent P3 Oversight Review Board to ensure accountability for future P3 projects. You read that right, the bill (SB361/HB485) introduced by Delegate Jared Solomon (D-18) and Senator Jim Rosapepe (D-21) apply to future projects.
These bills should be vigorously supported. The national P3 track record and the Purple Line episode make it obvious Maryland must do a better job protecting itself from the empty and expensive hype and promises of the Harold Hills of infrastructure.
We call on the General Assembly to do the right thing and resist MDOT and industry support for hype, broken promises, and hiding taxpayer risks until its too late.
We strongly encourage you to send your own letters to your State Senators and Delegates. Tell them to vote for both bills.
__________________________________________________________________________
2021 P3 Reform Legislative Scorecard
|
|
Feb 1 is Deadline for Pivotal Luxury Lane Bus Study Comments
February 1 is the deadline for comments on an important study looking at public transportation options for the American Legion Bridge. Undertaken by agencies on both sides of the Potomac, the I-495 American Legion Bridge Transit and TDM Study was presented at a January 12 Virginia hearing and concludes – not surprisingly – that trains are not an option.
The transit study -- which is separate from the draft I-495/I-270 environmental impact study -- would limit public transportation to bus routes connecting Tysons Corner with Frederick to the north and Bethesda and Silver Spring to the east.
The question is whether this opens a detour around a 2020 amendment the Board of Works adopted to require 10 percent of future toll revenues for public transportation in Montgomery, Prince George’s and Frederick counties. The answer depends on whether the tollway company can satisfy the set-aside by claiming the bus discounts add up to 10 percent of its toll revenues.
If the answer is yes, then the counties may get nothing for their own public transportation and the tollway company gets to keep all the money and wield a lot of control over local public transportation – a potential source of tollway competition.
One more point: what the study is proposing also jives with MDOT’s December 18 revision to its Request for Proposal, which assumes the concessionaire will include transit projects in its tollway proposal, provided they are financially viable.
Click here to learn more. Comment by completing the Online Form, leaving a voicemail at (703) 253-3324, mailing to DRPT Attn: Ciara Williams. 1725 Duke Street, Suite 675. Alexandria, VA 22314
|
|
|
I-495 Expansion Threatens Historically Significant
Glen at National Park Seminary
In addition to invading the U.S. Naval facility in Bethesda, Rock Creek, and Sligo Creek, the proposed $11 billion expansion of I-495 with Luxury Lanes would also maul a 13-acre Silver Spring glen listed on the National Register of Historic Places warns The Cultural Landscape Foundation.
Part of the historic National Park Seminary, the Glen features rustic woodlands, stone footbridges, statuary dating from the late 1910s, a Japanese pagoda, a Swiss chalet, a Dutch windmill, a Spanish mission-style home, an American bungalow, an Italian villa and more.
According to the Foundation, the June 2020 Draft Environmental Impact Statement and appendix show the expansion would "seize portions of the Glen on its western, northern, and eastern boundaries, exacerbate problems with invasive species and destroy historic designed features including cisterns, a stone retaining wall, the earliest bridge abutment, stone walking paths and others."
We join the Foundation in urging you to contact Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp who sit on the three-person Board of Public Works that has authority over the project's contracts. Tell them not to approve the pre-development agreement for the I-495/I-270 expansion at least until the environmental impact statement and companion record of decision are complete and final.
|
|
NEPA Undermined by Luxury Lane Expansion Timeline?
In response to requests from CABE's recent townhall for a road map to the debate over the proposed $11 billion Luxury Lane expansion of I-495/I-270, we are pleased to share this timeline of previous and future project milestones from our colleagues at Dontwiden270.org. (CABE has added a few annotations).
It's important to note how MDOT's timeline seems to neuter the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of highway projects and consider alternatives and actions to avoid, minimize, or avoid them -- like whether to build them or not. By documenting the federal decision, the ROD creates a legal roadmap of the actions that must be taken.
In this case, the tolls will have already been set on the proposed Luxury Lanes by the time the FEIS is released. If the project can't be built under the FEIS, the State has to pay the developer up to $50 million. This is notably different from the usual pattern of finalizing the EIS and ROD to first determine if the project can be built in compliance with NEPA.
Prologue: 2017-2020
Sept. 21, 2017: Governor Hogan announces a public-private partnership (P3) to add toll lanes to I-495 and I-270 that private companies would design, build, finance, and operate under a 50-year contract with the State.
June 6, 2019: The Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW) designates Hogan’s plan eligible for P3 status, allowing his administration to move forward with soliciting and evaluating private investment.
July 10, 2020 -- MDOT releases 19,000+ page Draft Environmental Impact Statement which received nearly 3000 public comments over a 123-day comment period. The draft EIS rejected the use of public transportation and any alternative that didn't involve widening I-495/I-270 for toll lanes.
January 8, 2020 The BPW adopted amendments from Comptroller Peter Franchot to divide the 70-mile project into at least three phases. It also referenced the use of pre-development agreements. The BPW will review and approve each Phase Agreement separately. Other adopted amendments include setting-aside 10 percent of future toll revenues for public transportation and requiring construction workers to be paid union scale.
2021-2022
February 1, 2021 -- MDOT to announce a "preferred proposer" (aka Phase Developer) to oversee Phase 1, which will cover 37 miles from the George Washington (GW) Parkway in Virginia to I-70 in Frederick. Segment A will widen the American Legion Bridge, I-495 to the I-270 west spur. Segment B will extend Luxury Lanes up I-270 to I-370). The third segment linking I-370 and I-70 in Frederick has been delayed and will undergo a separate environmental study.
Each section of Phase 1 is expected to be designed sequentially. After determining the section can be profitably built, the Phase Developer will submit a proposed design to the State. Once a approved by the Board of Public Works, the Section Developer will sign a contract and start construction.
April-May, 2021 -- MDOT is expected to send the Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW) for a "progressive public-private partnership pre-development agreement" for its approval. The PPDA is expected to empower the developer to revise and complete the EIS and ROD, which will determine whether the Beltway/I-270 can be expanded in compliance with NEPA, as well as begin to undertake the design of the tollways, arrange financing, and hire other companies to do the work.
(Sending the agreement to BPW in the spring would break Transportation Secretary Greg Slater's 2020 promise to Delegate Mark Korman (D-16) that no contracts would be sent before the EIS was complete.)
Spring 2021: MDOT and the Phase Developer will submit a toll rate proposal to the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) for approval (again months before MDOT is expected to issue a Final Environmental Impact Statement). Maryland law says that tolls cannot exceed a cap, which must be set by a public vote of the MDTA after public hearings.
Spring – Summer 2021: MDTA to hold open public hearings on the proposed toll range.
Summer, 2021: Approval by MDTA of toll cap/range of tolls after public hearing. The Draft EIS anticipates toll rates would cost I-270 drivers going from Bethesda to Frederick as much as $50. The Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition reports MDOT's latest Request for Proposals for Phase 1 references a letter committing MDOT to pay the Phase Developer millions of dollars if MDTA doesn't rubber-stamp the toll cap it promised.
Fall 2021 – Now comes the Final EIS and Record of Decision determining whether the project is NEPA-compliant. The FEIS will go beyond Phase 1 and cover I-270 south of I-370 and the Beltway from the ALB to Branch Ave.
(Note: the State will pay the developer up to $50 million if the project can't go forward because of the final EIS or related litigation. Litigation will depend upon how the Final EIS and ROD respond to the legal issues raised in the 3000 comments submitted by CABE, Sierra Club Maryland, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the National Capital Planning Commission, and others.)
Caveat: some projected dates will undoubtedly change. Also, there is no schedule yet for Phase 1 North (I-270 from I-370 to Frederick) or for Phase 2 (the proposed expansion of the Capital Beltway from the I-270 spur to Branch Avenue in Prince George’s County).
|
|
CABE Classifieds
Newsletter Correspondents/Editors: CABE is looking for experienced writers and journalists to help assemble its weekly newsletter. Passions for accuracy, deadlines, and free labor are required. Contact: 495CABE@gmail.com
Free CABE Sign Replacement Frames: If your CABE frame is bent, give us a shout for a free replacement courtesy of a generous member donation. Contact Arlene.
|
|
|
|
