The massive $2.4 billion cost of the Intercounty Connector could endanger Maryland’s hopes of funding crucial transportation projects related to the upcoming military realignment, according to a report released Wednesday.
The analysis, commissioned by the anti-ICC group 1000 Friends of Maryland, overwhelmingly criticizes the 18-mile toll road project, from the significant portion of funding that’s borrowed to the secrecy surrounding construction details and the fear that it could suppress other high-priority projects.
“We’re being held hostage by this project,” 1000 Friends of Maryland Executive Director Dru Schmidt-Perkins said. “Our call to this administrationis to take the time to have the discussion on the state’s priorities. … We have very, very scarce public funds.”
ICC will link Interstate 270 in Montgomery County with Interstate 95 and Route 1 in Prince George’s County, allowing motorists to drive between the two points without traveling on the Beltway.
In explaining the funding scheme, the new analysis explains that half of the ICC’s total construction cost comes from the Maryland Transportation Authority, which relies heavily on 30-year bonds and federal loans. State officials also are issuing about $750 million in GARVEE bonds, meaning that by fiscal 2012, debt service for the ICC will consume about $85 million annually and push the state to about 93 percent of its debt capacity.
Maryland Transportation Secretary John Porcari, however, told The Examiner that he has reviewed the financial plan and is satisfied that the ICC still is an extremely important pursuit for Gov. Martin O’Malley.
“Historically, it has been necessary to pay for major transportation projects by borrowing large amounts of money,” he said Wednesday.
The 1000 Friends report also raises doubts about the ability of the state’s transportation entities to simultaneously fund transit endeavors such as the proposed Purple Line — set to connect Bethesda to New Carrollton in Prince George’s — along with the ICC, saying that “every dollar invested in the ICC is simply one less dollar available for other needs in the state.”
Schmidt-Perkins said it’s critical to remember that the connector predates the announcement that the Base Realignment and Closure Act would bring tens of thousands of new people to Maryland, which may require billions of dollars of transportation projects to deal with added traffic congestion.
For Bethesda’s National Naval Medical Center, BRAC expects to bring 1,400 new staff members and 435,000 additional patients and visitors per year.
BRAC, though, “is a compelling priority irrespective of the ICC,” according to Porcari.
