A plan to expand two of Maryland's busiest roadways won't improve traffic or the quality of our air—but it just got the green light from a key public works panel anyway.
A plan to expand two of Maryland’s busiest roadways won’t improve traffic or the quality of our air—but it just got the green light from a key public works panel anyway.
The Maryland Board of Public Works voted on June 5 to approve Gov. Larry Hogan’s proposal to use private contractors to add two toll lanes to the Capital Beltway and I-270. Originally profiled in U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s “Highway Boondoggles IV” report, the project is now expected to cost $11 billion and will lock Maryland into decades of traffic congestion and asthma-inducing pollution—money that could be better spent on improving the Baltimore Metro, expanding public transit, and repairing the roads and bridges we already have.
“We need to start solving our transportation problems, from potholes to pollution, and stop wasting money on 20th-century highway projects,” said Maryland PIRG State Director Emily Scarr.
Maryland PIRG is calling for a transportation system that better meets the transportation needs of the 21st century.
Credit: Public Domain
America spends tens of billions of dollars each year on highway expansion projects that do little to address congestion, create other problems for our communities, and absorb scarce resources that could be used to meet other, more pressing transportation needs.
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