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 While there may be some new political support for this freeway, with a new majority on the County Council and a new, incoming Governor, the factual record on the proposed Inter-county Connector has not changed and there is still much controversy among the citizens. Here are a few highlights of the factual record: (1) According to every official study conducted to date, the project will not "provide [any significant] relief to the congested Capital Beltway (I-495) and remove through traffic from local roads…". Indeed, the previous DEIS concluded that: "None of the ICC alternatives will have a substantial impact on the level of service experienced by motorists on the Capital Beltway, I-270, or I-95 within the Study area." (DEIS V.III, p. VI-23). Similar conclusions were reached when different road and transit-mix scenarios were tested by a special task force set up for that very purpose in the County, in following years. (2) According to every major study conducted to date, the highway would not likely reduce congestion or improve safety among other major secondary or local roads in its vicinity since it would induce and increase traffic, actually degrading levels of service on many roads and at many of its crossings/intersections. Overall, neither the new freeway nor merely upgraded roads was said by the DEIS to achieve much advantage, if any, over the other in terms of Levels of Service or Critical Lane Volume improvements. (3) The environmental impacts identified in the DEIS were significantly different as between alternatives, with the upgraded roads alternative impacting far fewer resources than the various new freeway alignments - e.g., up to ten times less forest land and 16 times less threatened and endangered species. (4) There would be much to study were a new or supplemental EIS to be developed. Secondary and cumulative impacts, such as land use changes, likely to occur as a result of the proposed actions, were inadequately addressed. Air quality impacts analyzed were previously limited to carbon monoxide - this in a (now) "severe non-attainment" area, the worst air pollution designation possible under the Clean Air Act.
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