Maryland transportation officials will soon face two lawsuits fighting the InterCounty Connector.
The Audubon Naturalist Society announced this week its plans tochallenge the building of the ICC because the governor?s environmental impact study did not adhere to the National Environmental Policy Act by exploring all the potential alternatives, said Mike Harold, the society?s ICC coordinator.
“[Gov. Robert Ehrlich] was going to build this no matter what. It was clear his determination was greater than the process that was required. We feel it is an incomplete study and it needs to be completed,” he said.
The $3 billion ICC would be a six-lane toll road connecting Prince George?s and Montgomery counties. The study in question was the third done on the road that has been fought for many years.
The study should be redone to include transit options, improving the current road system and better land-use planning, Harold said.
Earlier this month, the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense announced they would file a lawsuit on the basis that the new 18-mile highway would violate the Clean Air Act.
The Coalition for Smarter Growth supports both lawsuits, said Laura Olsen, a coalition spokeswoman, who questioned the price tag and proposed $7 toll for the road not increasing while construction costs for other projects continue to rise.
“Gov.-elect [Martin] O?Malley said the state needs a transportation plan and yes, indeed they do. If they move forward with the ICC, it will make it really difficult to do almost any other transportation project,” she said.
“The analysis of alternatives was thorough, complete and exhaustive,” Robert Flanagan, Maryland secretary of Transportation, said in a statement. “We are confident that the work that was done meets or far exceeds requirements under state and federal law.”
