Tuesday, March 7, 2006

Maryland highway officials have extended the review period for the intercounty connector's final environmental impact study to March 23 [Metro in Brief, Feb. 23]. That gives the public only 75 days to review a 10,000-page behemoth. Readers would need to consume 133 pages a day.

Considering that the intercounty connector (ICC) has been debated for more than 50 years and is estimated to cost $2.4 billion in capital alone, it seems as though the state is being stingy about review time for the taxpayers who would foot the bill.

Maybe that's because the study shows that the connector won't relieve Beltway traffic but will add 3,000 or more cars a day to traffic on Connecticut and Georgia avenues and Colesville Road.

Why build the road if it won't relieve traffic? Well, here's a nugget starting on page IV-416 of the study's first volume:

"The proposed town center and regional upscale mall proposed within Konterra are contingent upon the development of additional transportation facilities, for example, the ICC, and therefore are not included in the future planned development. However, they are considered as secondary development as a direct result of the ICC."

In briefer words, the mega-development of Konterra depends upon a connector. In fact, an additional 4,945 acres of development would occur along with the 2,512 acres projected without an ICC.

The intercounty connector seems to be about development, not traffic relief -- and at taxpayer expense.

ARLENE THORNE

Silver Spring