ICC faces vote by regional board

This is not original reporting. All information has been compiled from The Washington Post.

The ICC, a road slated to run from Gaithersburg to Laurel, will face a crucial vote today by an important regional board, according to The Washington Post.

The Washington Transportation Planning Board will vote today on whether or not the planned road will be included in an upcoming regional air-quality survey, a pivotal step in the highway adoption project. A decision against the road would delay the project for years, the Post reported.

The project, which is intended to increase a sense of regionalism in Maryland by connecting many Maryland locales, has drawn harsh criticism from environmentalists and public transportation supporters alike. "The reason [the $1.5 billion estimated price tag] is so significant is that will take money away from the Metro," Brian W. Henry, the ICC campaign coordinator for the Audubon Naturalist Society in Maryland, told the Post. "You can't do everything."

But Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan holds a different view on the vote. "It's a vote to study a highway, only in Maryland, funded only with Maryland dollars," Flanagan told the Post in support of an affirmative decision by the board. "The idea that studying it should be questioned or controversial baffles me."