![]() “Because the analysis has not been done, we can’t even talk about what mitigation strategies we might want to see in those areas,” she added.īorden said state officials have told local planners they intend to conduct that analysis after they select their final design. “The analysis should look at air/noise/water pollution, hazardous waste, aesthetic value community cohesion, which is very important because the Beltway has already bisected some of these communities in the past.” ![]() “Data has been collected, however the analysis has not been done,” said Debra Borden, the lead Prince George’s County planner for the project. Planners said federal environmental law requires the Maryland Department of Transportation to assess a project’s impact on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color so that mitigation can be included. Concerns fell into several broad categories: Wednesday’s lengthy briefing represented planners’ first in-depth reaction to the DEIS, a key federally-mandated analysis. All existing lanes on the highways would remain free. Hogan wants to use a public-private partnership in which a consortium of large international firms would finance, build and maintain the new lanes for decades in exchange for the right to set and collect tolls on them. The comments came during a two-hour briefing for members of the bicounty panel that has a key role in Hogan’s plan to add four “express toll lanes” to the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) and Interstate 270. The panel’s chairman said the environmental impact statement undercut a long-held pledge from Gov. They also faulted the state for not connecting proposed “express toll” lanes to the University of Maryland Medical Center now under construction in Largo. ![]() Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission staffers said a draft environmental impact statement released last week fails to properly analyze impacts on low-income communities, understates the loss of parks and cultural sites, and neglects to account for current and future stormwater runoff. Planners in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties launched a full-throated attack on the Hogan administration’s plan to add privately-funded toll lanes to two interstate highways on Wednesday, saying a preliminary analysis of the project fails multiple key tests. The Capital Beltway near the Interstate 270 spur.
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