Montgomery Council asks for lower ICC tolls
By: Kytja Weir
Examiner Staff Writer
November 18, 2009
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| “I’m extremely concerned these tolls are so high they will drive commuters off the highway,” said Montgomery County Council President Phil Andrews. (Andrew Harnik/Examiner file) |
The Montgomery County Council is asking state officials to lower the proposed toll rates for the InterCounty Connector, saying that tolls costing $6 or more per one-way trip would discourage drivers from using the highway currently under construction.
The council voted Tuesday to seek lower rates, plus ask the state to phase in some fees as each section of the road is built and to give discounts to frequent drivers on the highway.
"The tolls we're seeing proposed weren't anticipated just a few years ago," said Council President Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville. "I'm extremely concerned these tolls are so high they will drive commuters off the highway."
The vote came as state officials are gathering public comment on the toll proposal for the 18.8-mile highway under construction that will connect Interstate 270 in Montgomery County and Interstate 95 in Prince George's County. The public comment period ends at 5 p.m. Monday.
The council asked for the state to set the tolls at 25 cents per mile during peak periods instead of up to 35 cents as proposed. They also recommended the state phase in a $3 fee for drivers who don't use E-ZPass transponders to pay for tolls on the cash-less road, contending that drivers shouldn't have to pay the full fee until the full road is finished. They also sought a small tweak to rates between Layhill Road and Georgia Avenue so drivers are not tempted to cut through neighborhoods to avoid the fee.
The council asked for the state to set the tolls at 25 cents per mile during peak periods instead of up to 35 cents as proposed. They also recommended the state phase in a $3 fee for drivers who don't use E-ZPass transponders to pay for tolls on the cash-less road, contending that drivers shouldn't have to pay the full fee until the full road is finished. They also sought a small tweak to rates between Layhill Road and Georgia Avenue so drivers are not tempted to cut through neighborhoods to avoid the fee.
But David Chapin, a state coordinator for the road project, said that the state has $1.2 billion in bonds hinging on the toll revenues. Lowered fees would probably not be enough to pay for the road and operate it, he said, so the state would need to dip into the stash of money made from other toll roads.
"This is not simply a matter of the state trying to raise money," Councilman Marc Elrich, D-at large, responded. "This will have consequences."
Ben Ross who leads Montgomery County's Action Committee for Transit called the county's request unfair.
"We're basically asking the people who use the Bay Bridge, Interstate 95 and the Harbor Tunnel to pay for this," he said. "I think that's an unfair request to make of the state when we have other requests that are fair: the Purple Line, the Corridor Cities Transitway, the Rockville Pike."
