With Obstacles Overcome, Highway Work Begins

Bulldozers rumbling adjacent to Redland now greet Tom Parker when he arrives for work at Shady Grove Presbyterian Church. Parker, a pastor, said church officials still don't know how construction will affect the church's entrance and parking for its 400 members.

"We're just going to deal with it," Parker said. "It will probably be a headache like any construction near you, but they're not springing it on us. We knew it was coming."

Others nearby say they're worried that their traffic headaches will become full-fledged migraines as motorists are rerouted during construction.

Pat Labuda, president of the Greater Shady Grove Civic Alliance, said the group still hopes that another legal challenge, or Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), will stop the highway, though the governor has repeatedly promised to build it.

She said the alliance's members, mostly homeowners associations in Derwood, are more worried about living with a six-lane highway than enduring construction.

"Construction comes and goes, and it's a limited period of time," Labuda said. "The bigger problem is when people are stuck with an outer Beltway right outside their door."

State officials said motorists and residents will be notified of major construction-related traffic changes via the news media and at the Web site http://www.iccproject.com. Anyone with questions or concerns can reach the project hotline at 866-462-0020 or send an e-mail via the Web site.

Work will soon get underway on the highway's eastern section. Last week, highway officials announced they had awarded a $513.9 million contract to a joint venture of five companies to design and build four miles of the connector, from Colesville Road (Route 29) to east of I-95. Major construction in that area is scheduled to begin early next year.