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Montgomery County (Map, News) - All but one of the properties that have to be bought for the first phase of the controversial Intercounty Connector project have been acquired by the Maryland State Highway Administration, meaning actual construction on the roadway could start as early as the end of the year.
According to officials, altogether the state will have to buy out 57 complete properties over the course of five different contract phases.
The first construction sequence, worth $476 million, will build the westernmost portion of the connector, extending seven miles from Interstate 370 to just east of Georgia Avenue in Montgomery County.
SHA spokeswoman Valerie Edgar said 25 of the 26 complete properties have been purchased thus far, and the state also has acquired about 160 partial properties.
“Most of the properties have already been cleared and are ready for construction,” Edgar told The Examiner Tuesday.
The ICC, once completed, is set to be an 18-mile controlled-access toll highway that will link activity centers on Interstate 270 and the Interstate 95/U.S. 1 corridors.
Each of the five stages of the $2 billion-plus project, on the books for decades, is scheduled to be designed as it is constructed.
Edgar said the construction will mostly go from west to east, beginning with the section near Shady Grove.
SHA will hold an open house next month to explain the project.
In October, the agency also will gather residents set to be affected by the construction of a sound wall along the new roadway.
“Maryland’s policy for sound walls is for 75 percent of folks who are adjacent to the wall to agree to it, so we’ll be getting their feedback at that meeting,” Edgar said. If that level of support is not reached, “we’d work with the community to try to reach consensus,” she added, but said it would not delay the overall project.
Contract A
» Builds the roadway from the westernmost portion, extending seven miles from Interstate 370 to just east of Georgia Avenue
» Includes three interchanges — at I-370’s intersection with Frederick Avenue, Shady Grove Road and the access road to the Shady Grove Metro station, and Georgia Avenue
dlevitz@dcexaminer.com
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ARTICLE HISTORY 
Comments from Examiner Readers
12:37 PM MST on Mon., May. 5, 2008 re: "Residents try to halt Intercounty Connector"
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8:18 AM MST on Tue., Feb. 19, 2008
re: "Green groups appeal judge’s connector ruling"
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6:54 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 8, 2008
re: "Green groups appeal judge’s connector ruling"
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7:36 AM MST on Wed., Dec. 5, 2007
re: "Officials worry Intercounty Connector could be roadblock for other projects"
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11:55 AM MST on Sun., Dec. 2, 2007
re: "Audubon gets taunting e-mail with ex-GOP leader’s address"
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9:26 AM MST on Fri., Nov. 30, 2007
re: "Audubon gets taunting e-mail with ex-GOP leader’s address"
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3:16 PM MST on Fri., Nov. 9, 2007
re: "Connector gets green light"
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7:46 AM MST on Fri., Nov. 9, 2007
re: "Montgomery council grills highway officials on Intercounty Connector"
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3:42 AM MST on Fri., Nov. 9, 2007
re: "Judge rules long-planned Maryland highway can go ahead"
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3:31 AM MST on Fri., Nov. 9, 2007
re: "Montgomery council grills highway officials on Intercounty Connector"
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1:44 PM MST on Thu., Nov. 8, 2007
re: "Judge rules long-planned Maryland highway can go ahead"
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4:55 PM MST on Sun., Nov. 4, 2007
re: "Archaeologists find clues to history in planned highway's path"
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6:32 AM MST on Tue., Oct. 30, 2007
re: "Groups decry smog analysis in connector court case"
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7:34 AM MST on Fri., Oct. 26, 2007
re: "More funds, staff green-lighted for Intercounty connector"
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9:55 AM MST on Thu., Oct. 25, 2007
re: "Critics say artifacts are another reason to quit connector project"
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1:39 PM MST on Wed., Oct. 3, 2007
re: "ICC would add pollution, environmental groups say"
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9:31 PM MST on Tue., Oct. 2, 2007
re: "ICC would add pollution, environmental groups say"
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6:27 PM MST on Fri., Sep. 28, 2007
re: "Residents decry Intercounty Connector"
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1:44 PM MST on Fri., Sep. 28, 2007
re: "Montgomery council grills highway officials on Intercounty Connector"
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9:17 AM MST on Wed., Aug. 15, 2007
re: "State pushes ahead with Intercounty Connector work"
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10:40 AM MST on Fri., Jul. 20, 2007
re: "One judge will hear both suits against new toll road project"
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6:34 AM MST on Fri., Jul. 20, 2007
re: "One judge will hear both suits against new toll road project"
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9:27 PM MST on Thu., Jul. 19, 2007
re: "One judge will hear both suits against new toll road project"
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7:44 PM MST on Thu., Jul. 19, 2007
re: "One judge will hear both suits against new toll road project"
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8:00 PM MST on Wed., Jul. 18, 2007
re: "One judge will hear both suits against new toll road project"
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6:36 AM MST on Tue., Jul. 10, 2007
re: "Officials worry Intercounty Connector could be roadblock for other projects"
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Gaylord said:
The NIMBY folks are at it again. This ICC will benefit all and will help relieve traffic.
1 agree | 1 disagree
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Ditto said:
Over the top, frivilous up roars that could cost them millions. Someone will pay a pretty penny.
69 agree | 68 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
This appeal is another attempt to obstruct progress using fabricated reasoning. These greenies are a perfect example of unskilled, irrational fools with money donated by more irrational fools. They think it is progress to waste taxpayer money fighting their insane claims.
108 agree | 112 disagree
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Wacko Enviro said:
Let's all leave and make the world a better place. That's what the wackos want. The ICC is obviously needed but the enviro wackos have never seen a road they like. Unless the roads allow them to drive to commission hearings so they can complain about the ICC. What a bunch of hypocrites.
121 agree | 116 disagree
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WILLIAM J. ROBERTS, ESQ. said:
To: "Too Conservative" Against my better judgment, I feel compelled to respond to your drivel. First, correct-- I served as Councilmember Nancy Dacek's Treasurer for about 8 years. Also-- 2 terms as a Rep member of the Charter Review Commision, and a Rep member of the Redistricting Commission following the 2000 Decenial cencus. I was quoted in the subject article because I became aware of what I thought was a childish, stupid and unprofessional communication from Reinheimer's email address to Audobon, and I told him exactly that by my email to him of 11/13, with a copy to the Central Committee of that same date, to which I have never received any response. I, for one, believe the Rep party could be well-served by seeking at least a modicum of common ground with environmental groups. Whether you agree or disagree is irrelevant. What is relevant is the maintenance of civility and professionalism in the context of disagreements and public discourse. Those are my thoughts.
110 agree | 104 disagree
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Too Conservative said:
The article claimed some county Republicans were angered yet only named one, Bill Roberts. Roberts has not been involved with county Republican efforts since before 1998 except for being Nancy Dacek's treasure. Dacek lost because she opposed the ICC. Reaching out to environmental zealots like Audubon is like Christians reaching out to the Taliban!
122 agree | 120 disagree
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ICC makes financial sense said:
The ICC is going to pay for itself in no time with tolls, whereas the Purple line would suck away tax dollars forever. Just look at the "Silver" line to Dulles. It would be cheaper to build bus lanes out of actual silver! The ICC toll money can support other projects later, the way drivers on the Dulles Toll Road (which paid for itself long ago) are being exploited to benefit Tysons Corner.
119 agree | 143 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
495 will more of a parking lot with the ICC than it would be without it. The state's own studies show this increase in predicted Beltway traffic. Further, the SHA will be the first one to tell you that the ICC was not intended to relieve Beltway, I-270 or I-95 traffic and they do not project any relief in those areas. Only a few local East-West roads and intersections will get relief. Not much for $2.4 Billion, in my opinion.
154 agree | 165 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I am a Sierra Club member and I donate money to support it. In this ICC project, Sierra Club is anti environment. I withdraw my membership and donate my money to the Red Cross instead .
109 agree | 117 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Without the ICC, the beltway I 495 will be a big parking lot in the next five years. It is already very crowded even on Sunday and Saturday. Imagine thousands of cars parking on the beltway to produce CO2 and pollute the whole region with toxic gas which affects millions of DC metropolitan residents. With ICC, half of the traffice will be diverted to I170 without merging into I 495. Those who oppose ICC are selfish. They think about themselves more than anybody else. I own property in Derwood, I am fed up with the anti ICC neighborhood .
163 agree | 181 disagree
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BostonRay said:
The Environmental moonbats try to hold up every positive project in pursuit of their plan to return the world to "ideal nature". Whatever that means to them. What they create is human misery as in Katrina and the California Fires - all caused by their moonbat beliefs and use of courts.
124 agree | 115 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
"But the artifacts from that era have been too mixed with modern trash, Budweiser bottles next to 19th-century glass, to tell scientists much." Excuse me, but the difference between the ancient artifacts and the modern trash is only the length of time they have been in the dirt.
118 agree | 123 disagree
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Julie Martin-Korb said:
I have been very pleased with the amount and quality of coverage of the ICC in the Examiner. With all due respect, I believe the reporter misheard what was being said in the argument. The question was: What must the State and Federal agencies do to make sure that the ICC does not cause a violation of the Clean Air Act? The State and Federal agencies were arguing that all they had to do was a "qualitative analysis" of the effect that the ICC would have on air quality. That is, would the amount of fine particulates in the air generally in the metropolitan region be higher or lower with the ICC? The Environmental Defense was arguing that the agencies were required to perform a "quantitative analysis" of the ICC effects on air quality. That is, the State would have to measure the current level of fine particulates in the air where the road will actually be located, and then use math to predict how much more of fine particulates will be generated by the ICC.
168 agree | 170 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
More hidden costs of the ICC that Montgomery County is forced to pay. The State should have to pay for this.
177 agree | 177 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Well, now. Was this historic site covered in the Final Environmental Impact Statement? I think not. I love Valerie Edgar's spin: “If there weren’t an ICC, we wouldn’t even know what was there. We wouldn’t even have known that the site was there." Oh, I see, the ICC is a *good* thing because it allows us to discover the Indian burial ground--even though when we find it, we're just going to pave right over it.
155 agree | 159 disagree
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Transit Rider said:
"The ICC will have a minor impact, if any, on the health of people living near or attending school near the project,” said Wells Burgess, attorney for the Federal Highway administration. If the impact is minor, why was there so much costly effort to protect habitat in the design, even though those impacts aren't credible or effective? The answer is to make a boiler plate ICC impact statement but actually circumvent the worst part: to ignore air particulate matter standards and pollution runoff into the streams and yards of people right next door. No amount of "comprhensive and copius" studying and research can cover for the real health risks ignored by the agencies acting more out of political greed than interest in the environment. This is early 20th century paving and concrete mentality from the robber baron era, not 21st century forward thinking. Burgess should volunteer to come live and breath next door to the ICC and traffic to prove his own point.
203 agree | 200 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
i live in germantown near middlebrook and 270 and i welcome the ICC because i drive to baltimore a lot. Many times I make that drive during the afternoon rush hr and going around the beltway during that time takes forever, so if the ICC was built it would cut down on the travel time. BUILD IT now stop trying to find ways to delay it.
183 agree | 199 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
In the literature posted on his gubernatorial campaign website, O'Malley mocked Ehrlich for his expensive "one-road solution" (the ICC) and neglect of transit. Among other quotable quotes: "The Ehrlich administration’s singleminded pursuit of the ICC has jeopardized the future of Maryland’s highway and transit system by committing an annual debt payment composed of federal dollars that would have funded projects all over the state." Now the only thing O'Malley is going to build is the ICC. There will be no Purple Line, no Corridor Cities Transitway. If O'Malley were not spending $1.2 billion of MdTA funds, $264.9 million out of the General Fund, and $180.0 million out of the Transportation Trust Fund to build the ICC, as well as $160 million annually in debt service costs on the GARVEE bonds, then he wouldn't need to raise taxes, now would he?
225 agree | 205 disagree
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Examiner Reader who's FOR the ICC said:
Build the ICC! I'm sick and tired of reading letters to the editor of the local paper (take your pick) from people bemoaning the "unnecessary" ICC who do not live on the major east-west roads (for example Bel Pre Road, where I live) that would see measurable relief in traffic volume. I'm also sick of our nanny-state County Council doing likewise. I'm not certain, but if I had to guess, none of them live near Bel Pre Road either.
192 agree | 193 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Hmm... This story didn't even mention the lawsuits--and there's really no news here. It looks like the examiner just printed what the State Highway Administration wanted to put out: that they consider it a done deal. With any luck, the courts will decide that this wasteful project should be stopped.
236 agree | 202 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
This lawsuit is much ado about nothing. Cars are not going to dissappear any time soon and if we did run out of gas, it is likely that the car would get a battery or other "bio" fuel source. The argument to stop building roads because we are going to run out of fuel is silly. FYI Jim Fary's house backs up to a SHA owned "open space" that was probably a part of one of the ICC master plans. Also, if you go the Montgomery County Sierra Club website there is not one outdoor "outing" sponsored by the club that is located in Montgomery County. All are in places remotely located from Montgomery County. This is a prime example of individuals hijacking a special interest group for their own gain.
235 agree | 223 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Has anyone with any financial sense bothered to do a cost-benefit analysis on the ICC? If someone did, the government would realize that this project is not worth it! I want my taxes spent more effectively - and if O'Malley proceeds with this financially irresponsible project, I and others will remember it at the polls.
241 agree | 242 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
In addition to the ICC being environmentally destructive, it won't provide congestion relief. The State's study of the ICC finds that ....."an ICC would not be expected to provide relief to the Beltway" .....and traffic on I-270 and I-95 "is not expected to be helped by the ICC."
245 agree | 238 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The ICC makes no sense in light of Peak Oil. America's oil production peaked in 1970. World oil discoveries peaked in 1964. We've been burning more oil than we discover since 1980. Many oil experts believe we are now at the peak of global oil production. We depend heavily on imported oil. But we can only import what some other country exports. And they will only export what they don't need. So after a nation's production peaks, their exports quickly disappear. Britain went from record high exports to no exports in just 6 years. Mexico's production peaked a couple years ago. Last year their production fell by 5%. Their exports fell by 10%. Our challenge won't be congestion for much longer. Soon our challenge will be providing mobility with less energy. The ICC takes us in the wrong direction - supporting sprawl, long distance commutes and taking money away from transit.
293 agree | 218 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Give it up, Sierra and Audobon. Real environmentalists are in favor of a road that will promote building closer in, resulting in reduced mileage driven by residents, higher density (better use of available real estate), and a bike path that offers a zero-emission alternative to cars. That is nothing to say about the increased safety of people crossing the county.
231 agree | 256 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Don;t worry. maryland governor o malley has money to pay college tuition for illegal immigrants but has no money for PC hospital, the purple line and the intercounty connector . His most important agenda is to support illegal immigration to maryland.
501 agree | 227 disagree
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