Montgomery County supporters of the proposed Bi-County Transitway are pleased by guarantees that the project is still on state officials’ drawing boards. But those supporters on Thursday expressed mixed feelings about the state’s plans.
On Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan toured areas currently being studied for the construction of the 14-mile transitway and called construction of the proposed transitway, projected to cost between $375 to $1.6 billion, a top priority of Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s.
The groundbreaking of the InterCounty Connector in May has compounded the issue as some have worried that the transitway, on which construction might start in 2010, could be delayed because hundreds of millions of dollars are already being pumped into the ICC. The highway will connect Interstate 95 in Laurel to Interstate 270 in Gaithersburg.
But Flanagan said Thursday that there is no such delay.
“We’re trying to give people assurances that we are serious about the Bi-County Transitway and that it is moving along at a rapid rate,” Flanagan said.
The transitway would stretch from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s.
State officials have proposed the use of light rail transit or bus rapid transit. Some in the county, including County Executive Doug Duncan and Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Coalition President Mier Wolf, have pushed for heavy rail.
Flanagan said heavy rail is not an option and has not been one for about 10 years.
Duncan has taken a leave of absence and was not in the office this week, a spokes woman said.
Meanwhile, County Council President George Leventhal and Ben Ross, president of Action Committee for Transit, are pushing for light rail similar to that in Baltimore.
