The opening of the long-delayed InterCounty Connector was held back one more day by forecasts of a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow. Maryland Transportation Authority officials said overnight crews making last-minute preparations wouldn’t be able to complete changes to traffic patterns on nearby roads to allow the ICC to open as scheduled Tuesday morning. Weather permitting, the ICC will open Wednesday at 6 a.m.
“For safety and logistical reasons, we need to push the opening of the ICC about 24 hours,” acting MDTA Executive Secretary Harold Bartlett said.
“There is a transition that must take place overnight before we can open the ICC, and that work cannot take place in wet or icy conditions. This is certainly an anticipated day, and we appreciate motorists’ understanding that we also need Mother Nature’s cooperation in this.”
It’s the latest toll road setback officials have blamed on “Mother Nature.” The ICC, a highway 50 years in the making, was originally scheduled to open in the fall, but construction was repeatedly pushed back several months by wet conditions and freezing temperatures.
The first 5.6-mile segment of the $2.5 billion roadway will connect drivers from Georgia Avenue in Olney to Interstate 370 in Shady Grove.
The delay is not expected to change any other scheduled dates for the opening of the ICC, the state’s first electronic toll road. Motorists can test drive the highway for free for about two weeks. Toll collection is slated to begin March 7 at 12:01 a.m., and drivers without an EZ Pass — needed to collect the tolls — will start receiving an extra $3 charge on April 5.
About 130 employees — 80 on Saturday and 50 on Sunday — spent the weekend making final preparations for the ICC. Road signs must still be uncovered overnight and traffic adjustments must be made to accommodate the new highway, also called Route 200. Officials said crews would work overnight until the road is ready. Other minor work, such as landscape, signage and stormwater management, will continue once the first segment is open to traffic.
Once completed, the 18-mile highway will extend into Prince George’s County to connect the I-270 business corridor with I-95.
As many as 21,000 vehicles are expected to use the first segment of the ICC each day, and officials estimate use will rise to 55,000 vehicles a day once the full span of the highway is open in 2012.
