Sprawl From New Highway Would Wipe Out 1,550 Acres of Forests. Meeting Tomorrow.

Despite claims that a proposed highway in Southern Maryland would not increase suburban sprawl, a review of public records shows that the local government has already granted preliminary approval to 3,261 building lots in the area around the highway.

Construction immediately surrounding the Cross County Connector in Charles County, Maryland, will wipe out at least 1,550 acres of forests, according to an analysis of state and local data and records by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  The replacement of all these trees (including those in the highway's path, shown below) with subdivisions (like the one being built in the photo above) could produce an additional 11,000 pounds of nitrogen pollution a year that would smother a valuable fish breeding ground, the Mattawoman Creek, and hurt the Chesapeake Bay.

Anyone who cares about protecting the Chesapeake region’s natural  landscape and water quality should turn out for a public meeting tomorrow night (Wednesday, November 4) at the College of Southern Maryland, La Plata Campus, 8730 Mitchell Road in LaPlata.  The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the college’s Business and Industry (BI), Room 113/113E.

Raise your voice against the Sprawl Highway.  The Bay needs you now.  The Maryland Department of the Environment and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are considering whether to grant Charles County a permit to destroy seven acres of wetlands that would allow the county to build this destructive project.  We need you to send a strong message: No!  Enough paving of wetlands and forests in environmentally critical areas like this.

To find out more about the meeting and how you can help, click here. 

Why do I say the highway is unnecessary?  For one, this $60 million, east-west roadway would do nothing to solve Charles County’s main traffic issue, which is moving commuters north to jobs the Washington DC metro area.  Mass transit would be more effective and pollute less.

Moreover, my colleagues here at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation recently performed a detailed examination of Charles County’s own traffic reports.  They found that the reports contradict the county’s main claim about the highway: that it would solve the problem of traffic accidents on Billingsley Road, which runs parallel to and just south of the proposed Cross County Connector.

In fact, about 60 percent of accidents on Billingsley Road happen on a stretch that will not be replaced or improved if the highway is built, the county’s records show.  Over 90 percent of accidents on Billingsley Road are caused by motorists driving too fast or other human errors.  Traffic congestion and volume in the general area of Billingsley Road are not likely to decrease if the highway is built, according to the  analysis of county documents.

There are smarter ways to improve Charles County’s traffic flow, and protect the Chesapeake region’s forests and streams at the same time. To read about the alternatives, read this report, called “Trouble Ahead.” 

Click here for more information about the project and meeting tomorrow night.

Comments

[linda redding cpa]

Why do those whose job it is to protect our natural resources INSIST on placing development where it would do the MOST HARM to our natural resources? Charles County officials are behind even third world countries in protecting forests that provide free ecosystem services for citizens. Progressive officials in other jurisdictions are buying and conserving forests as they realize forests SAVE MONEY. Citizens are waking up to the fact that 20TH century, sprawl inducing highways are nothing more than a DEVELOPER SUBSIDY. This highway is such a bad, out of date idea that the STATE WILL NOT HELP PAY for it, so only county taxpayers will foot the bill. The cost would PROBABLY EXCEED $2,000 FOR EACH county household. The responsible, intelligent, progressive thing Charles County officials SHOULD do is take those millions and bring light rail down to Waldorf, if they want to address traffic problems and make Charles County competitive by giving us 21st century transportation. Reinvesting in Waldorf by creating a vertical, mixed use, walkable community with pocket parks and culture is what progressive, forward thinking officials will do.

[bonnie bick]

Under the "business as usual" scenario there are 10,000 acres of forest loss projected at "build out" in the Mattawoman Watershed according to the Army Corps' 2003 Mattawoman Creek Watershed Management Plan. Hope people can come to the forum and hear about a different and better vision for the future of this valuable creek, that will be presented and discussed tomorrow evening. Then together we can all become agents of change to save the forests and wetlands of Mattawoman Creek.

[Cheryl Thomas]

THIS is precisely why the Commissioners and State Reps (EXCEPT for Delegate Murphy who is truly a man of the people) are so relentlessly pursuing this!!

Tom Pelton reported in the Baltimore Sun in April 2008:

"Eleven subdivisions with 2,513 homes are proposed or under construction with the assumption they could connect to the new road. Another 27 subdivisions with 2,971 units are planned or built nearby.

Further, about 2,400 homes are expected at the western end of the connector in the community in Bryans Road. The county says thousands more are likely to be built nearby."

Obviously these "plans" have been in the works for quite some time...I wonder what other "plans" they have tucked up their sleeves?

IMO it's about rewarding developers and their ilk for their "support"...

Then there's the water supply issue. Despite numerous warnings from the USGS and MGS, the Commissioners seem to be ignoring what will eventually be an environmental and economic death sentence for the county - thousands of houses, but not enough water!!

Talk about burying one's head in the sand...