Dickerson, Maryland. As many as 650 new construction workers would be commuting to the Dickerson power plant site during the morning rush hour, causing serious problems for the scenic and rural roads in western Montgomery County, if Mirant Dickerson Development, LLC's application to construct new power plants in Dickerson is approved, it was revealed during recent hearings.

Under questioning by Jim Choukas-Bradley, the attorney for the Sugarloaf Citizens Association, and Jane Hunter of Beallsville, who is representing herself in the case, a consultant for Mirant acknowledged that under the company's proposal, over 550 of these new construction workers would be traveling northwest on Route 28 towards Dickerson during the morning rush hour, and would have to turn left onto Martinsburg Road against the morning rush hour traffic.

"The traffic backups and tie-ups that this would cause are unfathomable," said Jim Brown, President of the Sugarloaf Citizens Association, after the hearing. "It is obvious that Mirant's proposed project would cause traffic havoc for a far-reaching area around Dickerson, Beallsville, and Barnesville."

Stringent security checks at the gate to the plant, made necessary by the recent terrorist attacks on the United States, would seriously delay access to the site and cause traffic backups on Martinsburg Road that could themselves extend way down Route 28.

Mirant attempted to divert attention from the traffic problems associated with its project during the morning rush hour by presenting a study of traffic impacts during the evening rush hour, when Mirant assumed that the vast majority of construction workers' vehicles would be turning right off Martinsburg Road back toward Rockville and Washington, DC. The company's witness in the hearings, Richard Zwolak, a Florida-based consultant, testified that he had not performed a study of traffic impacts during the morning rush hour. "We think that is a fatal flaw," said Mr. Brown.

The hearings were held on November 5 and 7 before Hearing Examiner David Moore, an employee of the Maryland Public Service Commission, in Rockville. The November hearings were the first phase of the presentation of evidence in the case. Additional hearings will be held in February 2002, and April 2002, after which Mr. Moore will recommend a decision to the Public Service Commission.

Under questioning by Mr. Choukas-Bradley and Mrs. Hunter, Mr. Zwolak indicated that Mirant would attempt to address the traffic problems by hiring a traffic officer during peak periods to stand at the intersection of Route 28 and Martinsburg Road. Mr. Zwolak admitted under questioning that he had not considered the concept that southeasterly-bound drivers on Route 28 during the morning rush hour would divert to Barnesville Road and drive through the town of Barnesville, increasing the already unacceptably high level of morning rush hour traffic through that historic community, in order to avoid traffic tie-ups caused by the stoppage of the flow of traffic on Route 28 at Martinsburg Road. Mr. Zwolak also admitted that he had not considered the fact that construction workers bound in a northwesterly direction on Route 28 toward Dickerson would turn onto Hunter Road and proceed to the construction site via Wasche Road and Martinsburg Road. All of these roads are rural roads unsuitable for construction traffic or heavy traffic loads.

"This is a serious matter," said Mr. Brown. "These construction impacts on the rural character of the Sugarloaf area are unacceptable and constitute a breach of the transportation and land use policies of Montgomery County."

If Mirant's application is approved, construction could begin as early as the summer of 2002. Construction would last for two years.

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