You might have missed it between the hot dogs and the pool parties and enjoying the warm weather, but Saturday’s Post ran a front page story on the sad afterthoughts of Maryland’s Intercounty Connector — a neighborhood that is literally being split, run over, and wiped from the land it sits on. The Connector, a massive multi-billion dollar project, has at last begun construction just a few miles away, and the Post does it’s part to bring to light the destruction that the road is bringing to Derwood — people fighting to save their houses from demolition, some families being forcibly bought out of homes they’ve lived in for 50 years, other homes being vandalized and stolen from, even after having been boarded up.

But the unhappiness doesn’t end with the article itself. In the comments for the article (which are now closed), many Maryland residents have a hard time even coming up with one benefit to the project, and they aren’t alone. Anyone that’s been following the developments of the ICC can attest that there’s a laundry list of complaints: A high toll rate that hasn’t even been released yet, although it is assumed to be close to 20 cents per mile (for a bland comparison, Pennsylvania’s turnpike rate is six cents per mile). Environmental groups have been against the route from day one. In fact, pressure to preserve Rock Creek led to the diversion of the ICC through Derwood. Construction is just in the first of five stages. Gas is ever on the rise, and ICC’s need to use more in construction is driving up costs, and tangentially, the road will drive more gasoline use by the commuters it will serve. Beltway traffic will likely increase due to the Connector. Not to mention the price tag for the project is easily going to top the $3 billion mark. (For reference, the Purple Line will cost around $1.8 billion.)

Let’s be frank: the Intercounty Connector is about as good an excuse we can find to plug the development of rail over roads, and forcing folks to sell their homes is just the icing on the cake.

But what say you – where do you stand on the ICC? Is it doomed to be yet another congested road in a space already full of them? Or is there some magical silver lining that we’ve missed?

Photo by katyray