Steve Burns
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON – (WMAL) What is usually a quiet, benign vote at the Transportation Planning Board is instead turning into something much more contentious today as the board weighs in on studying a new Potomac River bridge. The debate pits Montgomery County versus Loudoun County in an argument over traffic, sprawl, economic development, and Montgomery’s Agricultural Reserve land.

In its latest show of opposition, the Montgomery County Council Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution showing its displeasure with the mere prospect of studying a new bridge.

“We do not need to study this a moment longer, and it detracts us from the things we do need to do,” Council President Roger Berliner said ahead of the vote. “It really is a defining moment as to what kind of future are we going to embrace, and it is not this from Montgomery County’s perspective.”

Some in Loudoun County have championed a new upstream crossing as a cure to the American Legion Bridge’s daily backups, and a way to foster economic growth between northern Montgomery County and Loudoun’s Dulles corridor. Other Montgomery County councilmembers have mentioned that Maryland may be loathe to provide a direct connection to a competing airport, while the Intercounty Connector was built to make Baltimore-Washington International Airport more accessible to Montgomery County.

Any bridge building process would ultimately need to start in Annapolis, as the Potomac River is Maryland property, up to the Virginia shoreline.

This is far from the first time an upstream bridge has been studied, and traffic engineers may come to the same conclusion this time as they have in the past, said Stewart Schwartz at the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

“We think in the next few months when they complete the study, we’ll find that it’s too expensive, doesn’t provide enough benefit, and will divert resources form things that are much more important,” Schwartz told WMAL.

Contrary to the views of the bridge’s supporters in Loudoun County, Schwartz said a new upstream bridge would do little to unclog the Legion Bridge.

“Very few of the trips (on the Legion Bridge), a very small percentage, are trips that might take advantage of an upper bridge,” Schwartz said. “Almost all of the trips are trying to travel radially, in or out, or travel to some location on or near the Beltway.”

Instead, like Montgomery County leaders, Schwartz advocated for changes to the Legion Bridge, including possible toll lanes and additional transit. Those options will also be examined at TPB’s meeting Wednesday, in addition to more widespread ideas, like adding tolls to U.S. 50, Interstate 270, and the entire length of the Beltway, along with Metro and Purple Line extensions.

Schwartz also advises Loudoun leaders advocating for a bridge to turn their attention to another pressing matter – development to come with the arrival of Metro’s Silver Line.

“You’ve got a much more important investment to focus on,” Schwartz said.

But the larger debate remains, and Schwartz maintained there is no magic project that will fix the region’s transportation challenges.

“We need to better balance jobs and housing growth, so that people can have shorter commutes, and they can also have more options to walk, bike, and use transit.”

Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Montgomery County Government)