Capital Beltway Widening Study

February 23, 2005 Presentation by the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) at Indian Springs Community Rec Center regarding possible widening of the I-495 Beltway in Maryland

Background Information
The State Highway Administration (SHA) uses a grading system of A through F to measure Level of Service (LOS) conditions.
  A = "a free flow condition"
  F = "gridlock conditions"

In 2000, the most recent year information was collected, the stretch of I-495 Beltway through Montgomery county was graded E in the AM and F in the PM hours.

To attempt to alleviate this condition, they are considering the following alternatives.

  1. No Build This option would not affect any of the projects in the most recent “Constrained Long Range Transportation Plan” or any routine maintenance and safety improvements.
  2. 6 General Purpose Lanes and 4 Express Toll Lanes – this option would add a lane in each direction as a toll lane and convert an existing lane also as a toll lane. Tolls would vary based on congestion. This alternative also includes Transportation System Management (TSM) and Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures to optimize the existing transportation system.
  3. 8 General Purpose and 2 Express Toll Lanes - would add one lane in each direction as a toll lane. As above, tolls would vary based on congestion. This alternative would also include the TSM and TDM mentioned previously to optimize the existing transportation system.
  4. Express Toll Lanes – Tolls would vary based on traffic conditions and time of day to insure that Express Toll Lanes do not become congested. The SHA believes this option would also provide the ability to fund needed transportation improvements as well as provide access for commuters and buses to free flowing lanes offering travel time savings, reliability and enhanced operating efficiency for transit.

With the exception of the "No build" alternative, all the options will require widening the Beltway by one lane in each direction. The current 10' shoulders will be maintained.

An environmental study will be completed in 2005 including the impact on the various park systems that will be affected by the proposed widening. Currently it is estimated that, along the Maryland stretch from the American Legion bridge to the Woodrow Wilson bridge, 42 houses will have to be demolished to make room for the widening. Affected property owners should have already received letters from the SHA about this possibility.

In 2006, after reviewing the data from the environmental studies, a decision will be made as to whether to move forward on the Engineering studies.

The discussion following the SHA's presentation highlighted the following concerns and suggestions.

  1. Due to the high volume of commercial traffic on I-495, the SHA estimated that the Purple line, should it be built, would eliminate, at most, only 2 percent of total Beltway traffic. (Upcoming Purple Line meetings on 3/10/05 for the Seven Oaks Citizens Assoc. and 3/15 for the East Silver Spring Citizens Assoc.)
  2. Current estimated cost to widen the Beltway is $ 3+ Billion dollars, none of which has yet been approved or appropriated. The assumption now is that matching Federal funds will be needed to enable the project to go forward from the planning stage. Under the present Federal Budget cutbacks, this could be difficult.
  3. Last but not least, after the widening is completed, I-495 in Maryland will still have a grade of E or F.

In response to this, the following suggestions were offered.

  1. Since the bulk of traffic on the Beltway is commercial, why should taxpayers foot the bill? It was suggested that commercial vehicles should have to pay to use it. Turning the entire Maryland stretch of the Beltway into a toll road via “EZ Pass” would both provide needed funds for upkeep and possibly cut down on the number of commercial truck users. It was also noted that if non-commercial drivers had to pay to use it, they might think twice about taking the trip. It was argued, however, that this could also put more traffic on local roads.
  2. Rerouting the I-95 traffic off the Beltway to cut down on the number of vehicles using the Maryland side of the Beltway.
  3. Re-engineering various clog points such as the I-270 “bottleneck” to keep traffic flowing on the Beltway.
  4. Consider re-routing commercial trucks onto Rt. 301 to get them off the Maryland side of the Beltway.

For more information go to www.marylandroads.com.