The InterCounty Connector has been approved for construction for months, but the design of the road is still very much uncertain.
Instead of the State Highway Administration finishing the entire design process and then allowing companies to bid on the multimillion-dollar project, as is usually the case, the SHA will do both at once in a less-conventional process called design build.
To Connie McKenna, representing the Briardale Homeowner’s Association, this important change represents a rush to get the controversial connector pushed through far too quickly.
“The result is there is far less supervision, and citizens are being cut out of the process,” said McKenna, who was one of dozens of Montgomery County residents who turned out for the Planning Board’s public hearing.
The hearing, which started nearly three hours late, is one of the board’s final public meetings before it submits its opinion of the project to the state.
The larger number of objectors at the meeting, though, tried to point out that the public involvement period is far from over.
McKenna emphasized that, in light of citizens’ concerns about the project, “there are many levels of important work to be done.”
Bethesda resident and Montgomery County Council candidate Bette Petrides testified that the ICC — an 18-mile tool road linking development areas along I-270 and I-95 — is a great idea in theory but that it should be halted until an agreed-upon design is set.
“I believe it should be a political issue, not so that politicians can look at it, but so that citizens can be more involved,” she said.
One supporter of the ICC, Jerry Garson, said Thursday that the ICC is essential in lowering congestion. He said the ICC would divert up to 20,000 cars a day from the Beltway.
