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The first homes are being demolished to make way for the new intercounty connector after years of controversy and debate.
The 19-mile highway will connect Gaithersburg and Interstate 95, but the route is literally splitting neighborhoods and upsetting scores of residents.
As heavy equipment moved in to tear down the decades-old homes in a neighborhood known as Derwood, local residents made one last plea Wednesday for Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley to halt work on the controversial road.
Crews began tearing down the first home in the Cashell Estates area near the Redland area of Montgomery County (web|news) last Tuesday. The workers returned Wednesday to begin tearing down the final 10 homes in the neighborhood that sit in the path of the six-lane toll road that will connect Interstate 270 and U.S. 1 east of I-95.
Cashell Estates resident Elizabeth Elkins watched as her former neighbors' homes were demolished. "It's a sad day for me because I don't agree with them putting in the road. It doesn't make any sense financially or any other way," said Elkins.
Crews will demolish a total of 46 homes during the five-year project, half of them in the area between I-270 to Georgia Avenue.
David Axelrod came back today to see the house he used to live in one last time before it goes. "It's sad...like when the last tree's cut, the last river's damned and the last field is paved over we'll realize that we can't eat money.
Residents and environmentalists have aligned to fight the proposed road, saying the neighborhood is being torn apart by the construction.
"It's just causing incredible community damage and environmental damage -- over 3,000 acres of trees are impacted," said Dolores Milmoe of the Audubon National Society. "It's crossing some of the headwaters of the Anacostia River, Rock Creek and some of our last, best resources of Montgomery."
Milmoe described the project as a "lemon", saying the road is unnecessary because high gas prices are already leading people to drive less. She also claimed the project will not ease congestion on the Capital Beltway and Interstates 95 and 270, which was the planners' intent. 
The Audubon society also claims the demolition crews did not properly set up a silt fence, designed to keep sediment from spilling into waterways.
"They're not addressing some pretty basic issues here about silt fencing, about having a water truck here when they're tearing things down," said Milmoe. "So we're very skeptical about how they're going to treat the really sensitive environmental and community issues here."
State officials say Mill Creek, which feeds into Rock Creek, was not harmed during the demolition. Crews did temporarily halt the demolition of one home Wednesday until a water truck could be brought in to tamp down the dust.
The state has also expressed regret for the problems faced by residents in the decades-old community that was first developed back when the ICC was first proposed in 1955.
Most of the homes have been vacant for months because of ongoing litigation connected to the roadway. The neglect has taken its toll, according to neighbors. 
"We've had rat problems; we've had snake problems; we've had a bad odor from houses..." said neighbor Kim Asbury. "It's really nasty smelling around here -- environmentally, it's not safe."
Residents have asked for a meeting with Gov. O'Malley to make their case for canceling the road.
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