The sound of cars and tractor trailers whizzing down Interstate 95 may not be for everyone, but it's sweet music to Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker.
"The traffic coming back and forth -- for those of us in Prince George's County that is a beautiful sound," he said. "That is the sound of potential jobs coming our way. That means the growth we're going to see in this area is what we're going to have throughout Prince George's County."
"This area" refers to the final part of the ICC, construction on which has yet to start. It will take the road east of Interstate 95 to Route 1 and serve a massive development called Konterra.
State and county officials said the Konterra project could bring as many as 30,000 jobs to the county, which is desperate for such economic development.
Gov. Martin O'Malley said the land acquisition comes on the day the state received good news on the jobs front.
"In the latest month of reporting, our unemployment rate actually came down once again to 6.9 percent. We're still not where we want to be, but we are moving in the right direction," he said.
The final portion of the ICC is not expected to be completed until 2014. The second portion of the road, which will run from Route 97 in Montgomery County to Interstate 95 in Prince George's County, is slated to open in November.
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