Motorists on the Intercounty Connector could have to pay more than $6 per one-way ride on the Maryland highway, under a proposal announced Wednesday.
The state is offering open houses on the toll proposal on Oct. 19 and Oct. 21 in Beltsville and Silver Spring, respectively. Then officials will collect comments at a public hearing on Oct. 28 in Beltsville and Oct. 29 in Gaithersburg. Comments can also be submitted at iccproject.com. The public comment period ends at 5 p.m. Nov. 23.
Those without E-ZPass transponders on their cars will have to pay even more, facing a $3 administrative fee on top of the tolls for about $9 per trip.
The Maryland Transportation Authority proposed the variable toll rates for the 18.8-mile highway under construction that will connect Interstate 270 in Montgomery County and Interstate 95 in Prince George’s County.
Under the plan, drivers of two-axle vehicles would have to pay from a quarter to 35 cents for each mile on the highway during rush-hour times. Off-peak travel will cost 5 cents less per mile.
All drivers will be charged for a minimum of 3 miles, no matter how far they go. That’s at least 60 cents under the current plan.
The system will be cashless, meaning it won’t have actual tollbooths. Instead it will have overhead “tolls” in each direction that automatically read the E-ZPass transponders or videotape the vehicles to retroactively bill drivers without E-ZPass.
That allows drivers to pass through tolls at highway speeds, thus reducing traffic tie-ups and emissions from idling cars. The tolls cost more during peak congestion times to encourage drivers to spread out their trips. The preliminary “peak” periods will be from 6 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., but those could vary by as much as an hour once officials assess the actual use of the road.
Even so, authorities do not expect the tolls to cover the highway’s operation costs and debt in the initial years. They expect no more than 5 percent of drivers to travel the whole 17.5-mile length of the tolled section of the road.
“ICC and [high-occupancy toll] lanes are just a harbinger of what’s to come in the area: more toll roads,” said John Townsend of the AAA Mid-Atlantic auto club.
The full ICC highway won’t be completed until early 2012. But the west end of the highway, from I-270 to Georgia Avenue near Olney, is slated to open in fall 2010.
