Highway officials are stuck in neutral on the multibillion-dollar Intercounty Connector while they wait for a judge’s ruling on two environmental lawsuits.
But if U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams does give the go-ahead to the controversial 18-mile highway by Thursday, as project proponents hope, the State Highway Administration will be ready to shift into high gear.
The SHA agreed last month not to do any work on the project that could not be undone until after Williams issues his ruling. Contractors, though, continued work on erosion problems along Redland Road in Derwood, did median work along Georgia Avenue outside Aspen Hill and installed barriers along Maryland Route 370 on Monday, SHA spokeswoman Valerie Edgar said.
But she would not reveal the details of any plan for how the administrationwould proceed if Williams sides with the state when he issues his opinion on two lawsuits attempting to stop the $2.4 billion toll road from going forward.
“He could say go back and study or go ahead and start,” Edgar said. “There’s so many different things that could come out. I don’t have a crystal ball.”
Williams heard arguments from the Audubon Naturalist Society in one suit Oct. 1. The group contends that the state failed to consider alternative locations for the project. In another case argued Oct. 29, the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense argued that the ICC would violate the Clean Air Act because it would increase smog levels.
Edgar has said the state would appeal if Williams does not rule in its favor. Dolores Milmoe, a conservation associate with the Audubon Society, said the group will continue to fight the ICC however Williams rules.
