I-270 Traffic Nightmare Focus of $230M Improvement Plan

Potomac, MD — With a quarter of a million vehicles choking Interstate 27 near the Capital Beltway in Montgomery County, it’s a traffic nightmare for commuters.

Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday held a press conference alongside I-270 to pledge $560 million in highway projects across Montgomery County, including $230 million for improvements to I-270 to help alleviate congestion.

Key among the projects is a new $129.6 million interchange at I-270 and Watkins Mill Road, to be paid for with $100 million in new funding. The new interchange is aimed at alleviating traffic backups on Md. 124 and Md. 355, WTOP reports.

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The 35-mile I-270 corridor in Montgomery and Frederick counties carries from 79,400 vehicles a day on the north end of I-270 to 261,200 vehicles a day near the Capital Beltway, the governor’s office says. By 2035, traffic loads will increase to 107,000 to 290,000 vehicles a day.

“This highway is simply not equipped to handle that kind of volume and any Marylander who has driven this route would quickly tell you that it’s sometimes a traffic nightmare,” Hogan said at Monday’s press conference.

AAA Mid-Atlantic recently said about 30,000 more vehicles are traveling between River Road and the Interstate 270 spur — an increase of about 13 percent.

“That is mind-boggling,” spokesman John Townsend said.

Busy areas where traffic volume has dropped are the Wisconsin Avenue and Connecticut Avenue exits in Bethesda.

“[That’s] a decrease in about 25,000 cars per day, and that’s shocking, because that used to be a huge bottleneck,” Townsend said.

The Hogan administration also annouced an additional $1 million for shuttle bus service that will transport riders between Metro stations. This will ensure that workers are still able to get to move around the area when Metro repairs take place later this year.

“Our administration is committed to finding the best ideas that offer real solutions, and I’m excited to see innovation in action when it comes to solving the problem of congestion on I-270,” Hogan said. “We are calling on the most creative minds in the transportation industry to step forward, as we continue our investment in critical infrastructure projects that will help citizens in Montgomery County, and all across our state.”

The governor also said that with $160 million in state money and a full funding grant agreement from the federal government, construction on the Purple Line can begin by the end of this year.

»Photo from Gov. Larry Hogan's office