icc

It was London weather, fog, drizzle, persistent light rain, a day without the sun, Tuesday Nov 22, but Marylanders in Montgomery Co, the state's most populous county immediately north of the District of Colombia, celebrated.

Harold Bartlett executive secretary of MDTA, Maryland's toll authority tells us he's excited about what they and the State Highway Administration have achieved and feels entitled to "blow our trumpet a bit" to tell the world.

Similar roads can vary enormously in cost. A striking example is Maryland's Inter County Connector (MDICC) and Texas' 121 Sam Rayburn Tollway (TX121SRT). They have a lot in common. They are both 3+3 mainline lanes, they are roughly comparable length (18.8 miles vs 26 miles, 30km vs 42km).

Settlement of a longrunning dispute over the value of land needed at the eastern end of Maryland's Intercounty Connector (ICC) will allow the State Highway Administration to accelerate completion of the $2.57b, 18.8 mile, 30.2km tollroad. A spokesman told us they are working up a request for proposals (RFP) for the final work, known as Contracts D and E to be advertised in May.

ACS, A Xerox Company, Helping Maryland Drivers Get There Quicker with All-Electronic Road

The Washington Post has in Robert Thomson a transport reporter who is consistently lively, informative, and interesting. Often appearing under the moniker 'Dr Gridlock' he's skeptical - as a journalist should be. But a couple of pieces he's written on the new Intercounty Connector (ICC) cross the line of skepticism into silly negativism.

Maryland's beautiful new Inter County Connector a multibillion dollar 6 lane, all-electronic toll road carried a paltry 8,500 vehicles yesterday on its first day of tolling, the kind of count you get on a remote 2-lane road in rural West Virginia.

The parallel stretch of the Beltway and nearby I-270 would have each carried well over 200k

The first week of the first segment of the MD/ICC with toll-free operations saw 216k trips. The opening day apparently saw some one-time curiosity drivers because it got 36k. Since then there has been an average 30k vehicles/day [(216-36)/6]. Tolls begin after midnight this Sunday or 12:01am Monday Mar 7.

Pat Jones CEO at IBTTA makes a great point in a letter published this weekend in the Washington Post (below) about an an odd omission by the politicians speaking at the opening ceremonies at the Inter County Connector in the near northern suburbs of Washington DC last week. Neither the US secretary of transportation, nor the Maryland Governor, nor local elected representatives - no one at a microphone - mentioned its path-breaking new technology.

Maryland's new Inter County Connector (ICC) tollroad got off to a strong start today as the first 8.8 mile segment I-270 in Shady Grove to MD97 Georgia Avenue/MD28 opened. Barriers were removed at 1:15am Feb 23 westbound. The eastbound lanes opened about 3:20am.