Tom Warne Report, 29 October 2013
Traffic volume on Maryland’s Intercounty Connector has grown by 75 percent since opening to I-95 nearly two years ago, according to recent data from the Maryland Transportation Authority.
Kelly Melhem, a spokesperson for the transportation authority, said the addition is still fairly new to the states highway system, and is still in the “ramp-up period” as popularity grows and drivers “identify the benefits of using the ICC.”
The transportation authority’s annual financial statement indicates that over 17.2 million trips were traveled on the ICC between July 2012 and June 2013 and the total revenue hit $39.59 million, which was just higher than the $39.56 million projected revenue. The agency reports that traffic on the road approached 40,000 vehicles per day in September, and that drivers are making longer trips on the ICC than the authority originally estimated.
A traffic study released earlier this year by the Maryland State Highway Administration and the authority found that drivers on the ICC have half the travel time compared to travelers on local east-west corridors. The study also found that drivers using other local routes during rush hour experienced a 5 to 11 percent shorter travel time compared to before ICC.