After over three years of construction, the first part of the Inter-County-Connector opened at 6 a.m. this morning.  The 7.2 mile highway, which connects I-270 in Montgomery County and MD-97 in Prince George’s County, is one of four sections that will eventually make up the entire 18-mile toll road. The road, which was initially scheduled to open Feb. 22, was postponed because of snow and ice.

“We needed time to clear the snow off of the road and the ramps and that sort of thing,” said Ray Feldman, media relations representative for the ICC.  “You don’t want people’s first experience in the dark on a new road and have slick spots or icy spots.”

The ICC is home to the first cashless tolling system in Maryland.  Drivers can pay with an E-Z Pass, and cameras will track drivers’ license plates entering and exiting the highway to bill those without passes.  The entirely electronic system will allow all drivers to pass through the tolls without slowing them down.

For the first two weeks, drivers won’t have to pay tolls.

“We wanted to give people the opportunity to drive the road, get familiar with it, get a feel for it, know where to get on and where to get off and how long things take to get from one place to another and not have to pay a toll,” Feldman said.

As of March 7, tolls will cost 60 cents at night, $1.15 during the day, and $1.45 during rush hour.

Construction for the first section, Contract A, began in 2007.  Construction for Contract B is 70 percent complete and  Contract C is 85 percent complete.  ICC developers hope to open these sections simultaneously  in late 2011 or early 2012.