Widening 355 in MoCo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, one of the reasons why they say expanding highways doesn't work is because if they widen the roads , then more people will use it by moving further out. Well,yea, they move further out because they can't afford close in. They say widening the roads just encourages people to move further out, but then the same people would complain that we don't have enough affordable housing, not enough room for green space, etc...

It's like you want your cake and eat it, too.

Public transit is super slow; you're in a tube with strangers (and their germs). I get motion sickness in buses and trains. Some people have daycare situations that doesn't work with public transport. There are many reasons why the kind of public transport we have doesn't work for people.

I'm sorry that you don't like public transportation - which yes, can be very slow, when your bus is stuck on a road full of cars. You know what doesn't work for a lot of people, though? Driving.

DP- I've lived in cities with efficient, reliable public transportation, and did not need to drive on a daily basis. It was great. We don't have that here- it's nice to get to certain places, like downtown DC, but is not a regionwide network. Getting back to 355- I'm not really a fan of going there but it's necessary for certain stores, appointments, etc. I don't even live that far (SIlver Spring) but just google mapped an address I went to over the weekend and it's 20 minute drive vs. an hour for public transport. Who has the time for that?

Google it again when the Purple Line is open, and it will be 20 mins.

Nope, I'd have to take a bus or walk 20+ minutes to a purple line station. Not everyone in SS lives on top of the metro station (or a forthcoming purple line station). When is that going to be finished anyway?

If you're within a mile of a Purple Line station, that's awesome. The opening date is now fall 2026, thanks to Hogan's mismanagement, the litigants from Chevy Chase, and a district court judge who should have recused himself. https://washingtonmonthly.com/2022/06/20/larry-hogan-purple-line-fiasco/

And the proven and consistent inability of the state or county to manage infrastructure projects even under good circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When a 355 inevitably adds interchanges and becomes limited access, they need to turn the road into an interstate.

Why would they waste taxpayer money doing that when I 270 is literally 2 mi to its west?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, one of the reasons why they say expanding highways doesn't work is because if they widen the roads , then more people will use it by moving further out. Well,yea, they move further out because they can't afford close in. They say widening the roads just encourages people to move further out, but then the same people would complain that we don't have enough affordable housing, not enough room for green space, etc...

It's like you want your cake and eat it, too.

Public transit is super slow; you're in a tube with strangers (and their germs). I get motion sickness in buses and trains. Some people have daycare situations that doesn't work with public transport. There are many reasons why the kind of public transport we have doesn't work for people.

I'm sorry that you don't like public transportation - which yes, can be very slow, when your bus is stuck on a road full of cars. You know what doesn't work for a lot of people, though? Driving.

DP- I've lived in cities with efficient, reliable public transportation, and did not need to drive on a daily basis. It was great. We don't have that here- it's nice to get to certain places, like downtown DC, but is not a regionwide network. Getting back to 355- I'm not really a fan of going there but it's necessary for certain stores, appointments, etc. I don't even live that far (SIlver Spring) but just google mapped an address I went to over the weekend and it's 20 minute drive vs. an hour for public transport. Who has the time for that?

Google it again when the Purple Line is open, and it will be 20 mins.

Nope, I'd have to take a bus or walk 20+ minutes to a purple line station. Not everyone in SS lives on top of the metro station (or a forthcoming purple line station). When is that going to be finished anyway?

There is Silver Spring and then there is "Silver Spring" - if by the latter you mean Kensington or White Oak, then sure.

There is Silver Spring and there places that are not Silver Spring. This is very profound.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, one of the reasons why they say expanding highways doesn't work is because if they widen the roads , then more people will use it by moving further out. Well,yea, they move further out because they can't afford close in. They say widening the roads just encourages people to move further out, but then the same people would complain that we don't have enough affordable housing, not enough room for green space, etc...

It's like you want your cake and eat it, too.

Public transit is super slow; you're in a tube with strangers (and their germs). I get motion sickness in buses and trains. Some people have daycare situations that doesn't work with public transport. There are many reasons why the kind of public transport we have doesn't work for people.

I'm sorry that you don't like public transportation - which yes, can be very slow, when your bus is stuck on a road full of cars. You know what doesn't work for a lot of people, though? Driving.

DP- I've lived in cities with efficient, reliable public transportation, and did not need to drive on a daily basis. It was great. We don't have that here- it's nice to get to certain places, like downtown DC, but is not a regionwide network. Getting back to 355- I'm not really a fan of going there but it's necessary for certain stores, appointments, etc. I don't even live that far (SIlver Spring) but just google mapped an address I went to over the weekend and it's 20 minute drive vs. an hour for public transport. Who has the time for that?

Google it again when the Purple Line is open, and it will be 20 mins.

Nope, I'd have to take a bus or walk 20+ minutes to a purple line station. Not everyone in SS lives on top of the metro station (or a forthcoming purple line station). When is that going to be finished anyway?

If you're within a mile of a Purple Line station, that's awesome. The opening date is now fall 2026, thanks to Hogan's mismanagement, the litigants from Chevy Chase, and a district court judge who should have recused himself. https://washingtonmonthly.com/2022/06/20/larry-hogan-purple-line-fiasco/

And the proven and consistent inability of the state or county to manage infrastructure projects even under good circumstances.

The county has nothing to do with it. For the state, if you want to use this as a reason why the American Legion bridge, the Beltway, and 270 shouldn't be widened, I'm on board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, one of the reasons why they say expanding highways doesn't work is because if they widen the roads , then more people will use it by moving further out. Well,yea, they move further out because they can't afford close in. They say widening the roads just encourages people to move further out, but then the same people would complain that we don't have enough affordable housing, not enough room for green space, etc...

It's like you want your cake and eat it, too.

Public transit is super slow; you're in a tube with strangers (and their germs). I get motion sickness in buses and trains. Some people have daycare situations that doesn't work with public transport. There are many reasons why the kind of public transport we have doesn't work for people.

I'm sorry that you don't like public transportation - which yes, can be very slow, when your bus is stuck on a road full of cars. You know what doesn't work for a lot of people, though? Driving.

DP- I've lived in cities with efficient, reliable public transportation, and did not need to drive on a daily basis. It was great. We don't have that here- it's nice to get to certain places, like downtown DC, but is not a regionwide network. Getting back to 355- I'm not really a fan of going there but it's necessary for certain stores, appointments, etc. I don't even live that far (SIlver Spring) but just google mapped an address I went to over the weekend and it's 20 minute drive vs. an hour for public transport. Who has the time for that?

Google it again when the Purple Line is open, and it will be 20 mins.

Nope, I'd have to take a bus or walk 20+ minutes to a purple line station. Not everyone in SS lives on top of the metro station (or a forthcoming purple line station). When is that going to be finished anyway?

If you're within a mile of a Purple Line station, that's awesome. The opening date is now fall 2026, thanks to Hogan's mismanagement, the litigants from Chevy Chase, and a district court judge who should have recused himself. https://washingtonmonthly.com/2022/06/20/larry-hogan-purple-line-fiasco/

And the proven and consistent inability of the state or county to manage infrastructure projects even under good circumstances.

The county has nothing to do with it. For the state, if you want to use this as a reason why the American Legion bridge, the Beltway, and 270 shouldn't be widened, I'm on board.

Nice intellectual consistency. It’s your kind of thinking that has put the county behind the rest of the region when it comes to growth.

[Anonymous]

I love all the people who are banking on the Purple Line when they haven’t published fares yet.

The kabuki dance will be hilarious. The private, for-profit company is going to propose a massive fare and then everyone will be shocked, which will leave the state to have to come back and provide a subsidy to the company to keep it affordable (on top of the minimum revenue guarantee that they already provided.)

The Purple Line is going to be a case study in wasteful transit boondoggles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love all the people who are banking on the Purple Line when they haven’t published fares yet.

The kabuki dance will be hilarious. The private, for-profit company is going to propose a massive fare and then everyone will be shocked, which will leave the state to have to come back and provide a subsidy to the company to keep it affordable (on top of the minimum revenue guarantee that they already provided.)

The Purple Line is going to be a case study in wasteful transit boondoggles.

You sound just like the people opposing Hogan's plan for highway widening, except for "toll" instead of "fare".

Don't forget the reason why the Purple Line is a public-private partnership: because the ICC used up all of Maryland's borrowing ability for years. And of course the tolls on the ICC are not high enough to cover the costs of the ICC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love all the people who are banking on the Purple Line when they haven’t published fares yet.

The kabuki dance will be hilarious. The private, for-profit company is going to propose a massive fare and then everyone will be shocked, which will leave the state to have to come back and provide a subsidy to the company to keep it affordable (on top of the minimum revenue guarantee that they already provided.)

The Purple Line is going to be a case study in wasteful transit boondoggles.

You sound just like the people opposing Hogan's plan for highway widening, except for "toll" instead of "fare".

Don't forget the reason why the Purple Line is a public-private partnership: because the ICC used up all of Maryland's borrowing ability for years. And of course the tolls on the ICC are not high enough to cover the costs of the ICC.

I’d like to see where you got that from because it’s inconsistent will all reports that the ICC has been wildly successful. It’s fun to just make things up.

In any case, the actual reason it’s a PPP is because O’Malley was set on it being a PPP from the beginning. However, mysteriously (or probably not) O’Malley awarded PLTP a sweetheart concession agreement that had the state assuming the risk and not the contractor. It’s been a total scam.

On another topic, members of O’Malleys cabinet were prosecuted for bribery/corruption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love all the people who are banking on the Purple Line when they haven’t published fares yet.

The kabuki dance will be hilarious. The private, for-profit company is going to propose a massive fare and then everyone will be shocked, which will leave the state to have to come back and provide a subsidy to the company to keep it affordable (on top of the minimum revenue guarantee that they already provided.)

The Purple Line is going to be a case study in wasteful transit boondoggles.

You sound just like the people opposing Hogan's plan for highway widening, except for "toll" instead of "fare".

Don't forget the reason why the Purple Line is a public-private partnership: because the ICC used up all of Maryland's borrowing ability for years. And of course the tolls on the ICC are not high enough to cover the costs of the ICC.

I’d like to see where you got that from because it’s inconsistent will all reports that the ICC has been wildly successful. It’s fun to just make things up.

In any case, the actual reason it’s a PPP is because O’Malley was set on it being a PPP from the beginning. However, mysteriously (or probably not) O’Malley awarded PLTP a sweetheart concession agreement that had the state assuming the risk and not the contractor. It’s been a total scam.

On another topic, members of O’Malleys cabinet were prosecuted for bribery/corruption.

Hyperbole: The ICC has been wildly successful.

From the day it opened, it was a failure, and a decade+ later, it is still a failure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love all the people who are banking on the Purple Line when they haven’t published fares yet.

The kabuki dance will be hilarious. The private, for-profit company is going to propose a massive fare and then everyone will be shocked, which will leave the state to have to come back and provide a subsidy to the company to keep it affordable (on top of the minimum revenue guarantee that they already provided.)

The Purple Line is going to be a case study in wasteful transit boondoggles.

You sound just like the people opposing Hogan's plan for highway widening, except for "toll" instead of "fare".

Don't forget the reason why the Purple Line is a public-private partnership: because the ICC used up all of Maryland's borrowing ability for years. And of course the tolls on the ICC are not high enough to cover the costs of the ICC.

I’d like to see where you got that from because it’s inconsistent will all reports that the ICC has been wildly successful. It’s fun to just make things up.

In any case, the actual reason it’s a PPP is because O’Malley was set on it being a PPP from the beginning. However, mysteriously (or probably not) O’Malley awarded PLTP a sweetheart concession agreement that had the state assuming the risk and not the contractor. It’s been a total scam.

On another topic, members of O’Malleys cabinet were prosecuted for bribery/corruption.

Hyperbole: The ICC has been wildly successful.

From the day it opened, it was a failure, and a decade+ later, it is still a failure.

It’s nice to be able to make up your own facts. However in reality, it is the second most used toll road in MD after the Ft McHenry Tunnel and it’s been crucial in promoting economic development in Frederick County through providing better access to the Port of Baltimore and BWI.