the impact of communities, wetlands, streams, wildlife, forests, air quality, historic resources, and parklands. Construction The SHA constructed the ICC using separate design-build contracts for five phases. A. I-270/I-370 to east of MD 97 B. East of MD 97 to west of US 29 C. West of US 29 to east of I-95 interchange, and I-95 collector/distributor road improvements along I-95 from MD 212 to just north of the ICC D. Collector/distributor road improvements along I-95 from just north of the ICC to north of MD 198 E. East of I-95 interchange to US 1 The first of the five contracts was awarded on March 27, 2007. The contract, worth $478.7 million, was awarded to Intercounty Constructors, a joint venture of Granite Construction Company, Corman Construction Inc. and G.A. & F.C. Wagman, Inc. Construction on the section between I-370 and MD 97 began in November 2007. Contracts for three other phases are completed and the fifth phase involving collector-distributor lanes along I-95 has been completed. Requests for statements of qualification were issued for Phase A in December 2005, for Phase D in August 2006, and for Phase B in August 2007. The selection of the second of the five contracts was announced on November 20, 2007. The contract, worth $513.9 million, was awarded to IC3, a joint venture of Shirley Contracting Company, LLC; Clark Construction Group, LLC; Guy F. Atkinson Construction, LLC; Facchina Construction Company, Inc. and Trumbull Corporation. This work includes the ICC from a point west of US 29 to I-95, and interchanges with those routes. On September 4, 2008, The Washington Post reported that the Contract B construction contract had been awarded on July 22, 2008, to a joint venture of Kiewit, Corman Construction, and G.A. & F.C. Wagman, at a total cost of about $559.7 million—reportedly 22% higher than previous estimates. The Post story went on to say that a protest of this contract award was filed on July 30, 2008, by a joint venture that was not selected, though the bid price from the rejected group was lower. This protest may have delayed the start of construction on Contract B. On October 15, 2008, the Post reported that the protest was denied by state procurement officer Robert P. Gay and that the losing proposer would file an appeal with the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals. On September 12, 2008, the Post reported that Contract