Government

Residents Recoil at Plan to Expand Beltway with Toll Lanes

WASHINGTON INFORMER — Dozens of area residents railed Thursday against a proposal to expand the Capital Beltway in Maryland, as the state mulls seeking out a private firm to add toll lanes to the roadway. Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Maryland) led the charge during a town hall session at the Wayne K. Curry Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, urging Gov. Larry Hogan and the state Department of Transportation to support more transit options in lieu of the proposal.

Published

6 years ago

May 24, 2019

Oakland Post

By William J. Ford

Dozens of area residents railed Thursday against a proposal to expand the Capital Beltway in Maryland, as the state mulls seeking out a private firm to add toll lanes to the roadway.

Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Maryland) led the charge during a town hall session at the Wayne K. Curry Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, urging Gov. Larry Hogan and the state Department of Transportation to support more transit options in lieu of the proposal.

“You may add short-term relief, but you add more vehicles to the road,” Brown said. “We really should not be tolling our highways and roads.”

Prince George’s County Council Chairman Todd Turner said the county has a list of transportation-related initiatives that should take precedence.

“Toll lanes on any of the highways is not on our transportation priority list,” Turner said. “Just slow down. This is a major undertaking.”

Hogan and other state officials have said a public-private partnership to not only expand Interstates 495 and 270 in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties but also add toll lanes is a way to relive congestion in one of the most heavily traffic states in the nation. The proposal has six alternatives and is estimated to cost at least $9.8 billion.

The Board of Public Works, which includes Hogan, Treasurer Nancy Kopp and Comptroller Peter Franchot, may decide June 5 on the next steps to approve the P3 model and seek private firms to design, build and finance the 70-mile project.

The proposed work would happen between I-495 west of the Branch Avenue in Temple Hills in Prince George’s County, on northbound I-270 just north of I-370 in Montgomery County and westbound on I-495 in Cabin John south of the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Montgomery County.

The department estimates the average commuter in the region currently loses more than 87 hours annually due to congestion. A state-conducted study found that a commuter’s travel time would decrease between 45 to 73 hours per year if the beltway and I-270 are widened.

Crystal Hancock, acting supervisor of special projects for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, drew gasps when she mentioned the project proposes 26 access points for the managed toll lanes. About 10 would be in Prince George’s, she said.

Sherrie James of Landover said that’s the problem because not many people knew about this and other details of the plan.

“We are never, never, never asked how do we feel,” she said. “All of a sudden, [a] plan is developed and here it is. Not a lot of people understand what this means. I hope this is not a done deal.”

Before any approval would be given, a draft for an environmental impact study must be done. A final decision that includes a specific contract isn’t scheduled until 2020 and construction underway one or two years later.

Montgomery County Councilman Tom Hunker, one of the most vocal opponents of the state’s proposal, which could affect 34 homes in his jurisdiction, posted a petition on his website.

“There are serious concerns from taxpayers … both on the policy and process,” he said at Thursday’s meeting. “None of us want to be gouged by tolls.”

This article originally appeared in the Washington Informer.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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3 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.