Drawback to ICC

Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005

Another drawback to the Intercounty Connector has surfaced — maintenance facilities. Have the folks who would foist this road upon us brought up the subject? Not that I can remember.

It turns out that the ICC requires a 10-acre maintenance facility, preferable near the middle. Unfortunately there is no suitable location near the middle of the route, so the Maryland Transportation Authority plans to build a 10-acre facility near the eastern end of the route, just west of Baltimore Avenue, and a 3.7-acre facility near the western end of the route, north of Shady Grove Road.

What is a maintenance facility? The larger one has a shop and yard for vehicle storage and repair, piles of sand and salt, fueling stations and facilities for transportation authority police and electronic toll equipment. The smaller facility might have mounds of sand and salt, heavy trucks, a fueling station and a small office.

Mounds of salt and sand. What a beautiful use of land, especially near the Shady Grove Metro station where we have been expecting transit-oriented development. And the cost is probably not in the budget for the ICC. Well, another million more or less; I’ve been numbed by the numbers.

I don’t know what other surprises ICC planners have for us, but I don’t think I’ll like them. This road has been and is a bad idea.

Kenneth D. Weiss, Derwood