Tell Congress to Stop the I-495 and I-270 toll lanes project!

Soon, the federal government will decide if it will greenlight Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s plans to widen the Capital Beltway (I-495) and I-270 with private toll lanes. This massive project would bring more traffic, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, stormwater runoff, and sprawl to DC, Maryland, and the Northern Virginia region. 500 acres of tree canopy would be cut down, including 1,200 trees on national parkland. The toll lane plan would perpetuate racial and economic inequities in the Eastern part of the region by making residents pay high tolls (as much as $50 each way!) or sit in continued traffic in the non-tolled lanes to reach jobs overly concentrated on the west side of the region.

The I-495 and I-270 toll lanes project is moving forward despite there being NO environmental justice analysis and consideration of rail transit and telework policies as an alternative to reducing congestion!

We can contact our member of Congress, Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, and ask her to take action to stop the toll lanes. Toll lanes will be a disaster for our environment and communities across the region. The research is clear -- expanding highways is not a solution.

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Tell U.S. DOT to stop the harmful Beltway and I-270 toll lanes widening project!

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Please tell the US Department of Transportation to reject widening the Capital Beltway (I-495) and I-270 with private toll lanes. US DOT’s approval of this project runs counter to the goals of reducing pollution and environmental injustices caused by highway construction. Residential neighborhoods living near highways are more often communities of color that experience unsafe pedestrian conditions caused by heavy traffic heading to and from the highway, higher rates of asthma and other diseases caused by tailpipe emissions, and unremitting noise pollution. The I-495 and I-270 toll lanes project would make these conditions worse and perpetuate racial and economic inequities in the Eastern DMV region by making residents pay high tolls or sit in continued traffic in the non-tolled lanes to reach jobs overly concentrated on the west side of the region. The project would encourage more driving, increasing climate disrupting pollution and greenhouse gas emissions; the body of research clearly indicates that highway expansion provides fleeting benefits and overall leads to increased vehicle use and emissions. Other deeply problematic outcomes of the project include the loss of 1,200 trees on parkland and only 45% of stormwater from the highways being treated, resulting in more runoff damaging local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. The I-495 and I-270 toll lanes project is fatally flawed and the evaluation process failed to review effective ways to reduce congestion including rail and bus transit or telework. Please tell US DOT to reject this highway expansion proposal.

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