We saw this one coming — the first lawsuit after the groundbreaking for the InterCounty Connector that was a big part of Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s campaign promise to the Washington region. The Sierra Club and Environmental Defense have filed notice that they will sue based on the region’s existing failure to meet air quality mandates and the potential that construction of the ICC will make things worse.
The ICC is the highway that would connect Interstate 270 with Interstate 95 and provide the only real east-west connection between the two. It has been called a number of things by those opposed to it over the years, including the first leg of an outer Beltway. That second Beltway was actually part of the regional master plan many years ago but unlike the ICC, which has stayed on the plans for nearly five decades, the outer Beltway was erased. Make no mistake, local politicians want the ICC, but they want it for more than just the benefit of the commuting public.
The ICC is vital to the long-term vitality of BWI Airport. As we have learned over the years in the battles to increase runways and the number of flights into and out of BWI and Dulles, the airports are the economic engines that drive a region. Business leaders and politicians will go out of their way to make sure that their local airports have what they need, including easy access whether that comes in the form of a multibillion dollar rail or highway project.
Most Maryland politicians have fought against the construction of a new bridge across the Potomac between the American Legion and Point of Rocks. Many have done so in the name of the environment — not just air quality, but the desire not to desecrate the carefully planned Agricultural Preserve — and most have been able to do so with a straight face. The real reason for many of them not wanting that bridge, a key component of the “outer Beltway” concept, is that it would make it far too easy for all the big money in Montgomery County to jump over to Dulles instead of BWI.
Anyway, we knew this lawsuit (and probably another one or two) was coming. In that most of the environmental issues have been addressed through the extensive Environmental Impact Statements, it doesn’t seem likely that these efforts will go far. Do they serve a purpose other than simply delaying the project? Yes, they should put the final stamp of approval on the project if it passes muster and if everyone can agree that this will be the end of it — one way or the other. In that this region is already knee-deep in environmental concerns, though, if the ICC proves to be the worst thing since the Love Canal, then let’s move on. What we shouldn’t do is to let this drag on for another 50 years as the same seven advocates from both sides wave hand-painted placards at each other.
