Hogan to fund long-awaited Watkins Mill/I-270 interchange in Gaithersburg (Photo)

The transportation funding announcement last Thursday by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) got a lot of attention for its support of the Purple Line light rail project. But it contained many highway projects equally or more important, such as the long-postponed I-270 interchange at Watkins Mill Road.

Hogan is providing $150 million for the construction of the interchange. The project is critical for several reasons.

First, it will provide some congestion relief for drivers clogging current east-west routes that cross the I-270 corridor. Just from a practical standpoint, things you currently try to reach on MD 355 by exiting at Montgomery Village Avenue - only to drive and drive on 355 once you exit - will now be more accessible from the Interstate.

Second, it will finally bring the Watkins Mill Town Center development to fruition, as that mixed-use development straddles the interstate but has not yet been joined as a whole. Watkins Mill Road will do just that, as planned, with this interchange.

The biggest congestion relief component of this project will be when the Midcounty Highway Extended (M-83) is constructed in the upcounty between Montgomery Village Avenue and Clarksburg. This interchange will function as the off-ramp to that new highway, diverting traffic headed upcounty from the interstate. That will free up capacity on the interstate at some of its worst chokepoints.