The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently published the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Final Section 4(f) Evaluation for the I-495 & I-270 Managed Lanes Study.
The FEIS includes final traffic, engineering and environmental analyses related to the preferred alternative – alternative 9 – phase 1 South; comprehensive mitigation plan for natural, cultural and socio-economic impacts; and responses to comments received on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and the Supplemental DEIS.
“The preferred alternative is projected to provide meaningful operational benefits to the system even though it includes no action or no improvements for a large portion of the study area to avoid and minimize environmental and property impacts,” the FEIS said. “This alternative would significantly increase throughput across the (American Legion Bridge) and on the southern section of I-270 while reducing congestion. It would also increase speeds, improve reliability, and reduce travel times and delays along the majority of I-495, I-270, and the surrounding roadway network compared to the no-build alternative.”
The preferred alternative would replace the American Legion Bridge, support regional transit improvements, address existing traffic and long-term traffic growth, reduce congestion, improve the movement of goods and services, and enhance trip reliability.