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A coalition of 19 Prince George's and Charles county community groups argue that a proposed four-lane highway just south of Accokeek near Bryans Road, would worsen the environment and further congest the Indian Head Highway/Route 210 corridor with thousands of vehicles.

The $47 million highway, called the Cross County Connector, would stretch from Waldorf to Bryans Road connecting to Route 210 just south of Accokeek. The project is currently awaiting permit approval from the Army Core of Engineers and the Maryland Department of Environment, and a decision is expected to be reached in December.

In a report titled "Trouble Ahead" issued last week by the organizations, activists contend that the planned highway would spur development along the Indian Head Highway/Route 210 corridor in Prince George's County's rural tier, damage the Mattawoman Creek watershed and destroy more than seven acres of wetland.

The creek stretches 27 miles from Brandywine through Accokeek and into Indian Head in Charles County. It remains one of the cleanest water sources in the Chesapeake Bay and is Maryland's most productive spawning ground for migratory fish, according to the Mattawoman Watershed Society. In April, the creek was listed among 10 waterways on an annual ranking of the country's most endangered rivers compiled by American Rivers, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization.

"[The highway] will add more cars to 210 and will induce pollution in the Mattawoman watershed," said Terry Cummings, manager of advocacy for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Plans have already been drawn to build a mini-city along Route 210 in Bryans Road just south of Accokeek that would connect to the Cross County Connector. The project, called Bryans Road Town Center, would include 100 acres for mixed-use development featuring hotels, retail and as many as 10,000 housing units that opponents say would add 22,000 people to the Route 210 corridor.

"Poor little Prince George's County is getting tidal waved by Charles County traffic," said Bonnie Bick of Oxon Hill, who represents the Sierra Club in southern Maryland. "Those people [using the Cross County Connector] will be riding north every day [into Prince George's County and the District]."

Opponents of the highway point to Route 228 connecting Accokeek to Waldorf as a source of increased traffic on Route 210. Route 228 was converted to a highway in 1996 and provides east-west travel in Charles County.

But Gary Hodge, a Charles County commissioner, said that the Cross County Connector is meant to create a safer flow of traffic among communities in Charles County, adding that the impact to Route 210 and southern Prince George's County would be minimal.

"Charles County officials are committed to protecting the environment and the Mattawoman Creek," Hodge said. "What we need and have needed is a safer road that connects Waldorf and La Plata to the western part of the county."

Hodge said the area where the highway is planned to be built is already zoned for development. But groups are advocating for Charles County to focus development on the Route 5 and Route 301 corridors that converge in Brandywine. Activists are hopeful the money that would be spent in the highway could instead be put toward developing a light rail line along Route 5 that would connect Waldorf to the Branch Avenue Metro station in Suitland.

"If Charles County switched priorities from highway to light rail, then both counties could prosper," said Jim Long, president of the Mattawoman Watershed Society.

E-mail Joshua Garner at jgarner@gazette.net.