Delaney favors toll lanes for Interstate 270

The Gazette ^ | December 18, 2014 | Ryan Marshall

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

U.S. Rep. John K. Delaney said Thursday that toll lanes might be needed to ease traffic and congestion on Interstate 270, a corridor vital to the future of Montgomery and Frederick counties.

Leaders in the region must make sure the highway operates as efficiently as possible, Delaney (D-Dist. 6) of Potomac told legislators and business leaders from the two counties Thursday in Frederick at a meeting on the I-270 corridor.

Del. Michael Hough (D) of Brunswick, an incoming state senator from District 4, said Virginia has done a good job of combining ideas such as high-occupancy toll lanes and private investment in infrastructure to help ease congestion on its part of the Beltway and other major roads in the Washington, D.C. area.

Both ideas seem as if they would be ideal concepts for helping address problems on I-270, Hough said.

Delaney said leaders should be cautious about public-private partnerships — sometimes, local governments get involved in deals that turn out badly for their constituents.

But if it’s done right, it can be very beneficial, he said.

After the meeting, Delaney said toll lanes are something Maryland should pursue for I-270.

“I think we should be going down that path,” he said.

Not investing enough money in transportation infrastructure is an economic development issue and drains communities, forcing people to waste time commuting, Delaney said.

Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner (D) said the two counties can approach the topic of transportation together.

“Transportation is an area where we find common ground among everyone,” she said.

Gardner said she would like to create a hub around Frederick for the life sciences and biotechnology industries, part of a path heading down I-270 toward the headquarters of the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

[cyclotic]

That’s OK, I didn’t know about VA.

[Dave W]

There are NO tolls yet on Interstate 95 in VIRGINIA and yet you mention a tunnel. There is no tunnel on Interstate 95 in Virginia. I would appreciate it if you could let me know what interstate you are referring to because it is NOT INTERSTATE 95 IN VIRGINIA. My god, I just got finished reading a news release saying that the tolls for Interstate 95 in Virginia will start on Dec. 29. I do know what I speak of.

Are you speaking of Interstate 95 in Maryland perhaps?

[cyclotic]

This whole conversation has been about I-95 in Baltimore, including the tunnel