'Shockingly Innovative' Luxury Lane Preview from Orlando?
Is the picture above what MDOT had in mind when it promised a "shockingly innovative" design for expanding I-495/I-270 for Luxury Lanes under a public-private partnership (P3)?
Yes or no, its another reason citizens should demand the Board of Public Works reject any developer contract or agreement to expand I-495/I-270 for for-profit tollways until after the federal environmental review is finished.
What you see is an interchange on the I-4 Ultimate Highway, a struggling P3 for-profit tollway that's been tearing up Orlando since 2014.
Like the selected design for the proposed $11 billion I-495/I-270 Luxury Lane P3, in Orlando four tollways are being squeezed into the highway's inner lanes, two in each direction.
As a result, the I-4 Ultimate Highway has produced some terrifyingly labyrinthine interchanges to connect the inner tollways with the on and off-ramps. (BTW -- the industry P3 Bulletin says the I-4 P3 is at-risk of collapse.)
Now can you picture similar tangles of pavement straddling River Road? Connecticut and Georgia Avenues?
Honestly, we don't know what the future holds. But we are sure of the best way to stop a repeat of Orlando's I-4 P3 nightmare is to tell the Board of Public Works to vote against MDOT's plan to sign a pre-development agreement with a developer months before the Final Environmental Impact Statement is released and the environmental review process is finished. The pre-development agreement authorizes the developer to start spending money and designing toll lanes and gives it a first-right of refusal on a contract.
If the Board waits until after the FEIS is released before approving such de facto contracts, taxpayers stand to save as much as $50 million. That's the amount MDOT has agreed to pay if a pre-development agreement is approved in the spring but the project is stopped later by the FEIS or litigation.
We again urge everyone to keep calling Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp, who sit on the Board with Governor Hogan, and tell them to protect taxpayers and communities from another Purple Line or I-4 nightmare. Tell them to reject any agreement or contract at least until the environmental review process is completed.
Spread the word.
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Senate, House Hearings Set For Bills Reforming P3 Law, Codifying MDOT Luxury Lane Promises
Union Wages, Transit Funds, Communities at Stake
Two important hearings have been scheduled on key bills to codify the promises made for the $11 billion public private partnership (P3) to expand I-495/I-270 with Luxury Lanes and reform Maryland's process for reviewing and approving future P3 proposals.
The reform bill (SB361) is scheduled for its first Senate hearing before the Senate Education, Health and Environment Committee on February 17, starting at 1:00 pm.
Sponsored by Senator Jim Rosapepe (D-21), the bill passed the House overwhelmingly last year. It's been reintroduced in the House as HB485 by Delegate Jared Solomon (D-18) and is scheduled to be taken up by the House Environment and Transportation Committee on February 9 at 1:30 pm.
Next, on February 12, the House Environment and Transportation Committee has scheduled a 1:30 pm hearing on HB67, a bill that would make it harder for MDOT to walk back any more promises for the proposed I-495/I-270 expansion.
To date the Hogan Administration has walked back promises not to take homes, enter project contracts until the federal environmental review is complete. We know from the Draft Environmental Impact Statement MDOT won't fulfill the promise of no net-cost to taxpayers. (The DEIS projects a cost of up to $1 billion.)
While the bill introduced by Delegate Marc Korman (D-16) would not stop the expansion project, it would require construction workers to be paid the prevailing union wage, require free passage on the tollways for public transit, and ensure a promised 10 percent of toll revenues are set-aside for public transportation projects in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
Other key provisions would prohibit MDOT from sending contracts to the Board of Public Works for approval until a Final Environmental Impact Statement is available and would require MDOT to finally share critical project data on trip origins and destination and traffic and revenue modeling with local agencies "to the maximum extent practicable". (MDOT has resisted sharing data, claiming it is proprietary.)
A companion bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate imminently.
In the House, oral testimony on bills is limited to a maximum of 50 witnesses per bill. You must register by February 10 between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm through this link on the General Assembly's webpage.
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2021 P3 Reform Legislative Scorecard
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One VA Bill Aims To Make P3 Toll Hikes Harder, Another Easier
The Virginia legislature is at a cross-roads over whether to make it harder or easier for for-profit companies to jack up the toll rates on the roads they control under public-private partnerships with the State.
One bill (SB1259) on the Senate floor this week, and already approved by the House, would make it harder, according to WTOP.
Sponsored by State Senator John Bell (D-Loudon/Prince Williams) it would prevent the State Corporation Commission from approving toll increases unless the P3 operators first demonstrate to VDOT that the proposed rates are reasonable, won't "materially discourage use of the roadway", and provide "no more than a reasonable return".
The bill would also prevent the SCC, which regulates the Dulles Greenway, from approving proposed hikes that cover more than a year. Toll companies would also need prior SCC approval before refinancing existing project debt, the net effect being to ensure future refinances, and related toll hikes, are related to ensuring public benefit to drivers.
Ominous Bill Would Drastically Limit Public Input
On the flip-side, HB2104 would let the State Highway Commissioner, VDOT, and the Secretary of Finance transfer authority over the Dulles Greenway and other toll roads to VDOT and the mysterious Transportation Public-Private Partnership Steering Committee if they determine "it's in the public interest".
The three-member Steering Committee, chaired by the VDOT Deputy Commissioner, doesn't have a webpage or an easily accesible list its activities, meetings, decisions, members, or contact information anywhere on the Internet. (If you find a link, send it our way.)
Meaning the bill would put a state committee that's all but walled itself off from the public in charge of deciding what's the public interest. That's nuts.
Worse, if enacted it would set an unfortunate precedent that the P3 industry would likely be eager to export to Maryland and other states where it's trying to gain a foothold. BTW -- the bill was voted out of subcommittee on January 28, 2021.
We strongly encourage everybody who cares about transparency and accountability in government -- not to mention highways that operate in the true public interest -- to rally against HB2104 and for SB1259.
Spread the word.
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ICYMI
The Washington Post, Februay 2, 2021
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