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.

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“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