Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
We, the residents, taxpayers, and voters of Maryland strongly oppose Governor Hogan's plans to add toll lanes to the Maryland portion of the 495 Beltway.
This misguided proposal only stands to worsen congestion while charging commuters and taxpayers with massive bills for more tolls and more asphalt. The only parties with clear benefits in this scenario are the selected developer(s) and their associated political representatives.
The proposal has numerous issues including but not limited to the following:
- More Lanes Just. Don't. Work: From Northern Virginia, to Houston, to Los Angeles, to many other cities notorious for traffic, more lanes have NOT noticeably reduced congestion for more than a few months in even one case.
- More Lanes Worsen Congestion: In Maryland, more lanes would just shift bottlenecks to the exits which would become more congested than they already are.
- More Lanes Costs Commuters: Virginia's recently opened HOT lanes are widely reported to cost commuters more than $50 in tolls for trips of less than 10 miles.
- More Lanes Costs Taxpayers: Having developers "cover" the full cost of toll lanes is a nice idea in theory. However, this scheme has only shown to leave taxpayers with the bill once commuters experience the toll costs and the lanes sit empty.
- The Proposal Process Has Been Oddly Secretive: The state has engaged developers at high speed far ahead of public input, with a process that has been used in the past to push through developer-friendly proposals that foot taxpayers with the bill.
We urge our representatives and fellow Maryland residents to vehemently reject this proposal in favor of more effective traffic control measures based on evidence and common sense. These include measures that REDUCE traffic and get cars off the road in the first place, e.g. telecommuting, rapid bus and train transit, etc.
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Updates
April 17, 2018
Seeing this much support gathering behind a common sense stance feels heavy and necessary. The fight is exhausting but knowing so many of you see through the noise makes it impossible to quit now.
30 Comments
Get the Purple Line running before even beginning the discussion about HOT lanes. We've invested in public transport, why line the pockets of private companies?
I am strongly opposed to widening the beltway. Toll lanes only benefit the wealthy few, and adding lanes will not solve the problem of a lack of responsible development by government officials. For those of us who live alongside the beltway, the noise is already overwhelming. Adding more lanes will destroy homes and green areas and will degrade our neighborhoods. I will vote against any politician who supports widening the beltway.
The problem is the green light that has been given to developers, who keep building in spite of a lack of infrastructure to support it. Widening the beltway would destroy a number of neighborhoods that flank the beltway, including mine. Bigger is not better. It is not the answer. PLEASE don't do this.
Expanding the beltway to create toll lanes will harm communities, parks, hosptials, etc. Plus it creates two classes of citizens, those who cann affordf vs those who cannot. Who is the creator of this petition?
I’ve spent most of my adult life protecting whatever house I’ve lived in from road widening. This is the most ludicrous of all: not only would the extra lanes just serve as a traffic magnet, but they would decimate the sort of diverse, moderately priced neighborhood the county brags about!
We need less cars, less carbon, and to stop climate change. Widening highways to make room for more cars is pretty much the opposite of a solution to any problems we face as a community, a culture and a planet.
Public transport needs to be the answer. Funneling more and more cars into an already congested area won't work and studies have proved it in areas where these methods of lane addition were tried. Our neighborhood and many others that back up to the beltway will be affected in very negative ways. Also, the private companies will profit from this and push all the adverse effects onto taxpayers to deal with after the fact.
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Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
We, the residents, taxpayers, and voters of Maryland strongly oppose Governor Hogan's plans to add toll lanes to the Maryland portion of the 495 Beltway.
This misguided proposal only stands to worsen congestion while charging commuters and taxpayers with massive bills for more tolls and more asphalt. The only parties with clear benefits in this scenario are the selected developer(s) and their associated political representatives.
The proposal has numerous issues including but not limited to the following:
- More Lanes Just. Don't. Work: From Northern Virginia, to Houston, to Los Angeles, to many other cities notorious for traffic, more lanes have NOT noticeably reduced congestion for more than a few months in even one case.
- More Lanes Worsen Congestion: In Maryland, more lanes would just shift bottlenecks to the exits which would become more congested than they already are.
- More Lanes Costs Commuters: Virginia's recently opened HOT lanes are widely reported to cost commuters more than $50 in tolls for trips of less than 10 miles.
- More Lanes Costs Taxpayers: Having developers "cover" the full cost of toll lanes is a nice idea in theory. However, this scheme has only shown to leave taxpayers with the bill once commuters experience the toll costs and the lanes sit empty.
- The Proposal Process Has Been Oddly Secretive: The state has engaged developers at high speed far ahead of public input, with a process that has been used in the past to push through developer-friendly proposals that foot taxpayers with the bill.
We urge our representatives and fellow Maryland residents to vehemently reject this proposal in favor of more effective traffic control measures based on evidence and common sense. These include measures that REDUCE traffic and get cars off the road in the first place, e.g. telecommuting, rapid bus and train transit, etc.
Updates
April 17, 2018
Seeing this much support gathering behind a common sense stance feels heavy and necessary. The fight is exhausting but knowing so many of you see through the noise makes it impossible to quit now.
30 Comments
Widening the beltway will not solve the congestion problem. This has already been proven in Virginia - and people are actually avoiding the high-priced toll roads. Widening the beltway will adversely affect or destroy hospitals, schools, neighborhoods, churches in its path. Why not invest in public transportation?
Get the Purple Line running before even beginning the discussion about HOT lanes. We've invested in public transport, why line the pockets of private companies?
I am strongly opposed to widening the beltway. Toll lanes only benefit the wealthy few, and adding lanes will not solve the problem of a lack of responsible development by government officials. For those of us who live alongside the beltway, the noise is already overwhelming. Adding more lanes will destroy homes and green areas and will degrade our neighborhoods. I will vote against any politician who supports widening the beltway.
The problem is the green light that has been given to developers, who keep building in spite of a lack of infrastructure to support it. Widening the beltway would destroy a number of neighborhoods that flank the beltway, including mine. Bigger is not better. It is not the answer. PLEASE don't do this.
Expanding the beltway to create toll lanes will harm communities, parks, hosptials, etc. Plus it creates two classes of citizens, those who cann affordf vs those who cannot. Who is the creator of this petition?
I’ve spent most of my adult life protecting whatever house I’ve lived in from road widening. This is the most ludicrous of all: not only would the extra lanes just serve as a traffic magnet, but they would decimate the sort of diverse, moderately priced neighborhood the county brags about!
We need less cars, less carbon, and to stop climate change. Widening highways to make room for more cars is pretty much the opposite of a solution to any problems we face as a community, a culture and a planet.
Public transport needs to be the answer. Funneling more and more cars into an already congested area won't work and studies have proved it in areas where these methods of lane addition were tried. Our neighborhood and many others that back up to the beltway will be affected in very negative ways. Also, the private companies will profit from this and push all the adverse effects onto taxpayers to deal with after the fact.
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Widening the beltway will not solve the congestion problem. This has already been proven in Virginia - and people are actually avoiding the high-priced toll roads. Widening the beltway will adversely affect or destroy hospitals, schools, neighborhoods, churches in its path. Why not invest in public transportation?