Study: ICC will create employment and save on automobile expenses

The ICC will also save Maryland drivers and businesses about $6.7 billion from 2010 to 2030 in fuel, less wear-and-tear on vehicles and other expenses, according to the study.

Some question the accuracy of those figures, which continue to be cited by state officials.

‘‘Most studies show that highways shift jobs and investment rather than create jobs,” said Greg Smith, a Takoma Park environmental activist who has campaigned against the ICC since the 1990s. He is active in a grass-roots nonprofit organization called Sustainable Montgomery.

The ICC project has already been a boost for some construction companies. Earlier this year, the state awarded a $478.7 million contract to Intercounty Constructors, an Annapolis Junction joint venture of Corman Construction of Annapolis Junction, G.A. & F.C. Wagman of York, Pa., and Granite Construction Co. of Watsonville, Calif. That was for the first, 7-mile phase, from Interstate 370 to Georgia Avenue.

Most of that work will occur away from traffic to have the least impact on motorists, a state spokeswoman said.

Last month, ICC Constructors, a Bethesda joint venture of Clark Construction Group LLC of Bethesda, Clark subsidiary Guy F. Atkinson Construction LLC of Broomfield, Colo., Facchina Construction Co. of LaPlata, Shirley Contracting Co. LLC of Lorton, Va., and Trumbull Corp. of West Mifflin, Pa., won a $513.9 million deal.

That work will cover a 4-mile stretch from Route 29 to just east of Interstate 95, as well as two miles of access lanes along I-95 and two interchanges.

However, the ICC will cost more than state officials say and divert state transportation funds that could go to more effective projects, Smith said. He noted state officials’ admissions that the ICC is not intended to relieve Capital Beltway congestion.

The state has ‘‘no intention to change” the $2.4 billion price tag, said Valerie Burnette Edgar, a spokeswoman for the Maryland State Highway Administration. A study is in the works on how to deal with Beltway congestion, she said.

One way to address Beltway congestion is to build the east-west Metro Purple Line, said Bob Grow, director of government relations for the Greater Washington Board of Trade. He also suggested additional high occupancy vehicle lanes on the Beltway and more ‘‘transit-oriented” development near Metro rail stations.

While transit projects such as the Purple Line are fine, highways have to be part of the equation, said Richard N. Parsons, former president and CEO of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and a longtime ICC advocate. ‘‘There should be a balance between road and transit improvements,” he said.

As far as the ICC goes, studies show it will do more to relieve traffic congestion in suburban Maryland ‘‘than anything else out there,” Parsons said.