{"id":8958,"date":"2017-11-13T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-11-13T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=8958"},"modified":"2017-11-12T21:23:08","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13T02:23:08","slug":"m-83-supporters-get-a-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=8958","title":{"rendered":"M-83 Supporters Get a Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Adam Pagnucco.<\/em><\/p>\n

Back on November 3, David Lublin wrote that the County Council had placed the planned Upcounty highway M-83 \u201cin the freezer.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 We agree with that take with one addition: if and when M-83 comes out of that freezer, it will be ready to serve.\u00a0 That\u2019s because instead of killing the road, the resolution passed by the County Council has preserved it for a future county government to build.<\/p>\n

To understand what has happened, one has to consider the goals and challenges of road supporters and opponents.\u00a0 The supporters want to fund its construction.\u00a0 That\u2019s tough because the road will cost roughly half a billion dollars and the county is reducing its annual issues of general obligation bonds to trim future debt service<\/a>.\u00a0 Opponents want to remove the road from the county\u2019s master plans.\u00a0 They believed they had a chance to do that since six Council Members said they opposed M-83 during the 2014 elections<\/a>.\u00a0 But that has not happened.<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s resolution<\/a>, passed on Halloween, did not implement the agendas of either side.\u00a0 Its action language is worth reading word for word.<\/p>\n

The County Council for Montgomery County, Maryland approves the following resolution:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    The Council supports expanded capacity on I-270, the Corridor Cities Transitway, Bus Rapid Transit on or near MD 355, and improvements on MD 355. These improvements will provide significant, immediate relief for Upcounty residents. These improvements align with our economic development strategies, providing the broadest and most diverse benefits, and minimize impervious surface, stormwater runoff, carbon emissions, and other environmental impacts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    The Council directs the Montgomery County Planning Board not to assume additional road capacity from the northern extension of Midcounty Highway when calculating the land use – transportation balance in future master plans, including but not limited to the upcoming Gaithersburg East Master Plan and the Germantown Plan for Town Sector Zone. This step ensures that any new development allowed under these plans does not rely on the northern extension of Midcounty Highway, while retaining the right-of-way for this extension in these plans.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Road supporters did not like the omission of M-83 from the list of projects supported by the council.\u00a0 They should have no argument with the idea of not including M-83\u2019s capacity in calculating infrastructure needs for future development.\u00a0 That could help prevent the road from filling up immediately after it\u2019s built (if it\u2019s built).\u00a0 But the last sentence referring to \u201cretaining the right-of-way for this extension\u201d is a big win for supporters of M-83.<\/p>\n

    Why does this matter?\u00a0 A casual perusal of land ownership maps from the State Department of Assessments and Taxation<\/a> shows massive county land holdings in the vicinity of M-83\u2019s preferred alternative<\/a>.\u00a0 Identifying every one of the dozens of parcels owned by the county and county-affiliated entities there would be a time-consuming research project.<\/p>\n

    A sample of county-owned land for M-83 near Watkins Mill Road and Great Seneca Creek.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Instead, we asked the county Department of Transportation\u2019s project manager for M-83 how much of the right-of-way for the road\u2019s preferred alternative was currently owned by the county and state.\u00a0 We received this response.<\/p>\n

    Dear Mr. Pagnucco:<\/p>\n

    Thank you for your interest in the Midcounty Corridor Study (M-83) project.\u00a0 Per our preliminary assessment, approximately 60% ROW for M-83 has been dedicated or reserved and another 24% is in parklands owned by the County\u2019s Parks.<\/p>\n

    Should you have any questions, please contact me.<\/p>\n

    Best regards,<\/p>\n

    Gwo-Ruey (Greg) Hwang, P.E.<\/p>\n

    Capital Projects Manager<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    That\u2019s right, folks \u2013 the county and Park and Planning together control 84% of the right-of-way for M-83 right now.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Why does this matter?\u00a0 Let\u2019s remember the history of the Intercounty Connector.\u00a0 The highway had been in master plans for decades.\u00a0 As of 1997, the county and state owned more than half the right-of-way for the ICC<\/a>.\u00a0 The following year, Governor Parris Glendening announced he was killing the project<\/a> and later told the state government to sell part of its right-of-way<\/a>.\u00a0 But the state did not sell off all its right-of-way<\/a> and in fact purchased some of it after Glendening\u2019s announcement<\/a>.\u00a0 Continued state ownership of the ICC\u2019s right-of-way made it much easier for Glendening\u2019s successor, Governor Bob Ehrlich, to reverse his decision and begin construction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    So it may be with M-83.\u00a0 The county\u2019s holdings of right-of-way for the project may be even greater as a percentage of its acreage than the state\u2019s holdings of the ICC were a decade before its construction.\u00a0 The resolution by the council explicitly calls for \u201cretaining the right-of-way\u201d in the master plans, suggesting that the county\u2019s holdings will not be sold.\u00a0 And the road has not been removed from any master plans, a key goal of opponents.<\/p>\n

    M-83 supporters should have hope.\u00a0 M-83 opponents should beware.\u00a0 Both sides have a lot of work to do in next year\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Adam Pagnucco. Back on November 3, David Lublin wrote that the County Council had placed the planned Upcounty highway M-83 \u201cin the freezer.\u201d\u00a0 We agree with that take with one addition: if and when M-83 comes out of that freezer, it will be ready to serve.\u00a0 That\u2019s because instead of killing the road, the … Continue reading M-83 Supporters Get a Win<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[151,63,38],"tags":[1545,2061,1536,2060,1990],"class_list":["post-8958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adam-pagnucco","category-montgomery-county","category-transportation","tag-adam-pagnucco","tag-clarksburg","tag-gaithersburg","tag-m-83","tag-transportation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4mKJE-2ku","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8961,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8958\/revisions\/8961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}