Maryland

The Washington DC metro area's long-awaited Intercounty Connector (ICC) tollroad will open its first western segment late 2010 or early 2011 with peak-hour toll rates of 25c/mile, 20c/mile off-peak and 10c night rates for cars. In metric measures that's 15.5c/km, 12c/km, and 6c/km.

The National Weather Service said that here in Frederick MD we got the heaviest snowfall of anywhere in the Washington DC/Baltimore metro area in the Big Snow of Feb 5/6 - 33.8 inches, 86cm. Alexandria VA was reported at a respectable 28.9in 73cm. DC itself got a feeble 17.8in 45cm. All that hot air?

Toll people got a good belly laugh at the Chicago Tribune recently with their headline that referred to TransCore as a "troubled" company. "Tollway sticks with troubled customer-service firm" ran the headline Dec 17.

Maryland's Intercounty Connector (ICC or MD200) in the northern suburbs of Washington DC metro area will manage free flow with tolls that could vary between 10c/mile and 35c/mile (6c/km to 22c/km) for cars.

Maryland's proposed high toll rates for the new Inter County Connector are in line with those suggested by Wilbur Smith Associates to maximize revenues. Yesterday Maryland Transportation (Toll) Authority (MdTA) announced high toll rates in the range 25 to 35c/mile in the peak hours and 20c to 30c/mile offpeak for cars with a minimum 3-mile toll, and a $3/toll video surcharge.

Maryland authorities are proposing toll rates for cars of 25c to 35c/mile peak hours (6 to 9am, 4 to 7pm workdays) and 20c to 30c/mile offpeak - metric: 16c to 22c/km peak and 12c to 19c/km off-peak.

Maryland (Toll) Transportation Authority (MDTA) lost 2,090 E-ZPass in July, the first month in which a $1.50 monthly maintenance fee applies. 4,990 customers dropped their accounts and about 2,800 new E-Zpass accounts were opened. At the end of July there were 557k Maryland E-ZPass accounts.

A Baltimore lawyer who represents the family of a John Short who died last August 10 when his tractor trailer effortlessly pushed through the parapet wall and plunged off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is likely to sue the bridge operator Maryland Transportation (Toll) Authority (MDTA) for negligence. Attorney Keith Franz says the bridge may meet 1950s standards, but it isn't maintained and operated according to contemporary standards.

Maryland (Toll) Transportation Authority (MdTA) is named as a defendant in a $19m law suit filed over the deaths of three men in a collision during two-way operations on the three lane 1973 span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at about 4pm May 10 2007.

The Inter County Connector in Montgomery County Maryland is about a third built and contracts for most of the rest of construction of the 19 miles of 6 lane tollroad are let. But diehard environmentalist opponents of this major addition to the highway network north of Washington DC still pretend to soldier on. The Sierra Club's Metro DC page still features the same old complaints, for example that the new tollroad will "promote sprawl development."