The Montgomery County Planning Board approved a study this week for a bicycle-pedestrian route to run along the Intercounty Connector, but the study may present a conflict between protecting the environment and meeting the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians.

The plan is for a continuous east-west bike route that would detour around environmentally sensitive areas. The detours could take the route away from the ICC along sidewalks or roads that are not “well-traveled,” according to Planning Board spokeswoman Valerie Berton.

“We are concerned that this study may result in the removal of large sections of the planned bikeway that were in the original master plan,” said Jack Cochrane, chairman of Montgomery Bicycle Advocates.

Cochrane said one of the roads being proposed as a detour route is New Hampshire Avenue, a heavily traveled road.

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The ICC is a planned 18-mile highway that would connect Interstate 270 in Montgomery County to Interstate 95 in Prince George’s County. Environmental and neighborhood activists have fought it since it was officially proposed in 1982.

“There are much more serious problems with the ICC than this new bike path can address,” community environmental leader Greg Smith said.

Work on the highway, which is scheduled to start at any time, must be limited to construction that won’t cause irreparable harm to the environment under a deal reached last week by the State Highway Administration and groups that have sued to stop the highway.

Transportation planners will hold public meetings this year and work with the State Highway Administration and county experts, as well as advocates, to provide bike route recommendations to the Planning Board next summer.