Watkins Mill Interchange (Gaithersburg, Annapolis, Mayo: low income, real estate, 2015)

[BBC99]

New News:

Construction is not anticipated to begin as previously scheduled. The bid opening for the I-270 at Watkins Mill Road Interchange contract (SHA contract # MO3515172) was cancelled in November 2015.
Currently SHA is considering scope changes resulting in significant construction cost savings for this interchange, and analyzing the best approach to deliver it in a timely fashion.

Rumor has it, that the new design will eliminate the on and off ramps to 270. This will now just be a bridge to 270 and will eliminate any possibility that the proposed Watkins Mill Towncenter will be built. I imagine they will fell the empty space with more overpriced homes next to low income housing and train tracks.

Good Luck Maryland!

[BBC99]

Update:

If the full Watkins Mill Interchange is not built, BP Reality can't, by law, complete the proposed Watkins Mill Towncenter.

Why would the Maryland State Highway Administration do this?

By cutting back the cost on the front end, the state of Maryland stands to lose jobs and tax revenue on the back end.

The very definition of penny wise, pound foolish!

[RoshBurk]

Originally Posted by BBC99

New News:

Construction is not anticipated to begin as previously scheduled. The bid opening for the I-270 at Watkins Mill Road Interchange contract (SHA contract # MO3515172) was cancelled in November 2015.
Currently SHA is considering scope changes resulting in significant construction cost savings for this interchange, and analyzing the best approach to deliver it in a timely fashion.

Rumor has it, that the new design will eliminate the on and off ramps to 270. This will now just be a bridge to 270 and will eliminate any possibility that the proposed Watkins Mill Towncenter will be built. I imagine they will fell the empty space with more overpriced homes next to low income housing and train tracks.

Good Luck Maryland!

What's your source? It makes no sense. The Transportation Trust Fund is flush with money.

[MidValleyDad]

Originally Posted by RoshBurk

What's your source? It makes no sense. The Transportation Trust Fund is flush with money.

As I understand it the Transportation Trust Fund is flush with IOUs from the State. They borrowed a lot of money over several years to fund the General Budget.

[CBMD]

I think most MoCo pols are against the delay and the as yet unknown proposed changes. I know that the County Council briefed the State Delegation in Annapolis recently.

[BBC99]

Update:

Montgomery County Maryland

Looks like the county and the City of Gaithersburg are fighting for this. Hope they can get this done...

[BBC99]

Originally Posted by RoshBurk

What's your source? It makes no sense. The Transportation Trust Fund is flush with money.

I pulled this from the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration website.

[BBC99]

This is interesting: Delays To Watkins Mill Interchange Could Hurt Development, Leaders Say | WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio

Montgomery County leaders are decrying the delay of a project that would have added an interchange along I-270 in Gaithersburg. They're concerned the move will kill hundreds of millions of dollars in development currently taking place in that area.

The Watkins Mill Road interchange is one of three new exits in the planning stages for I-270. It would one the biggest construction projects on the busy highway since it was officially designated Interstate 270 more than 40 years ago.

The Watkins Mill interchange would go between current exits 11 and 13. But just as construction was close to beginning, the state delayed the project in order to find ways to cut the project's nearly $43 million price tag.

That could endanger development already taking place where the exit would go, says Del. Andrew Platt (D-Montgomery County). He says Kaiser Permanente already put up a new building with doctors offices, anticipating a Watkins Mill exit would connect to it.

"You've had tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars already spent on planning and building with the anticipation that the Watkins Mill interchange will be built," Platt says. "So to scale it back... it's going to kill those projects."

A timetable for a revised project has not been released.

[BBC99]

Given these recent events, If you're a real estate developer, why would you consider building in Maryland vs. the true pro-business Commonwealth of Virginia?

Penny wise, pound foolish!!!

[BBC99]

City Fights for Full Interchange
by Pam Schipper • February 3, 2016 • 0 Comments

The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) is contemplating changes to the full diamond Watkins Mill Interchange, scheduled for construction this year. The project is fully funded, but SHA cancelled bids in November without informing the City of Gaithersburg. In an internal memo, SHA staff recommended a partial interchange with only exit ramps from I-270 and no access from Watkins Mill Road to the highway, should the project go forward.

“As a city, we’re trying everything we can to get this back on track,” said Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman after a Monday meeting with Maryland’s Secretary of Transportation Peter Rahn.

In the meeting, Secretary Rahn and staffers addressed why changes are being considered. “The project came in and they took another look,” said Ashman. “They want to go through a larger, more holistic process, do a study of reducing 270 traffic. … (SHA) staff is concerned that on-ramps for the full interchange would be too close to 124 on-ramps, creating a dangerous situation and traffic congestion.

“The city is skeptical (of this),” Ashman added. “This has been 15 years on the table.”

The state will put out an RFP, most likely in May, and vendor selection might take until the end of the year, Ashman said. The full Watkins Mill Interchange would not be off the table, but one of the options considered in the I-270 study.

The city heard about possible design changes to the interchange “second and third hand,” said Ashman. Montgomery County came across an internal memo from SHA staff, dated Nov. 23, 2015, that addressed possible interchange modifications, and the county alerted the city.

Designed to ease congestion at the MD 124/MD 355 intersection that currently operates at more than 25 percent over capacity and at the often congested MD 117/MD 124, the Watkins Mill Interchange was identified as a need more than 20 years ago. It has long been an economic development priority for city and county.

Both felt secure in commitments made by the state of Maryland that the full diamond interchange would be built.

Following discovery of the internal SHA memo, the Gaithersburg Mayor and City Council wrote to SHA on Jan. 11. “We are writing to not only express our dismay that we were not informed substantive changes were being considered but to strongly disagree with the findings that these changes address traffic concerns in the short term. The City is not supportive of anything less than a full interchange.” The letter notes substantial “negative economic development and vitality impacts to the City of Gaithersburg and the Upcounty area” should redesign plans go forward.

On Jan. 19, the Montgomery County Council wrote to Governor Larry Hogan and Secretary of Transportation Peter Rahn, emphasizing the state’s commitment to this project. “It has remained one of our highest State transportation priorities over the last decade. During the Transportation Trust Fund’s lean times we provided $4.9 million in County funds to allow MDOT to continue progress in designing the full interchange. The City of Gaithersburg has dedicated about 23 acres of land for the full interchange. In 2013 the State fully funded this interchange in exchange for our support of the gasoline tax increase that year. With its programing in the CTP, we have dropped it from our priorities letter, knowing that it was a ‘given.’ The news of a potential delay and down-scoping of this interchange has already caused much distress in the business community and among our Upcounty residents,” the letter states.

On Jan. 22 the Montgomery County Delegation wrote to Gov. Hogan, calling for the project to go forward as planned. The Delegation detailed economic revitalization contingent on the construction of a full interchange. These include more than 250,000 square feet of mixed use real estate, 930,000 square feet of office space, some 400 hotel rooms, a local FedEx distribution center, expansion of Lockheed Martin offices, relocation of The Humane Society of the United States’ national headquarters, and an unnamed biotechnology prospect considering a $150 million project.

Charlie Gischlar, SHA spokesperson, said Monday, “The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration reviewed the project and saw the potential for a change and a possible conflict with the overall corridor project. SHA continues to work closely with our stakeholders on the project.”