An Absurd Ending To The ICC Bike Path
By spokesman
The purpose of this post is to bring attention to an absurd situation concerning the construction of a proposed bike path in Maryland. The path would run parallel to a new road called the Inter-County Connector (ICC) but under the current plan, a continuous bike path will not be built. Montgomery County planners say a continuous 10-foot-wide asphalt bike path would cause too much damage to the ecologically sensitive parkland that will be traversed by the ICC when it is built. It seems that a highway is not an environmental problem, but a bike path is an environmental problem.
To make a long story short, here is how the situation evolved.
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The bottom line is that the environmental concerns could not stop the construction of a 6 lane 18.5 mile highway, but they did manage to kill the 10 foot wide bike path. This is not the outcome that the road opponents wanted. They wanted to kill the ICC. The ICC will go ahead but the bike path is a casualty of the battle over the road construction.
The Montgomery County Council is meeting on January 13 to discuss the construction of the bike path. Their plan is to have sidewalks and on-road bike lanes on secondary roads fill in the gaps in the ICC path. This approach will not result in a usable path. If you are local and want to e-mail the council here is information. For more background on the ICC and the bike path, here is a detailed history.