Last week, I wrote about summer season traffic on Route 50 and its stultifying impact on Shore residents forced to give up weekend travel both locally and westward across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I quoted a letter to the editor of The Baltimore Sun by a resident of Chester on Kent Island characterizing the onslaught of traffic not only during the summer but also year-round, as “a mandated sentence of home-arrest for Kent Islanders.”
A Wye Mills resident, in response to my column, said she was a “weekend prisoner” of her home, finding it “impossible to come into Easton with Friday beach traffic, and if going to town on any given Sunday, I must finish up before noon when the return beach traffic “She bemoaned waiting at the stoplight at Route 213 for at least eight minutes “to accommodate the beach goers and ignoring the residents.”
Another Spy writer, a lifelong Queenstown resident, also cited the difficulty of crossing Route 50 Friday through Sunday, not only during the summer, but also wrote, “Now Thursday has been added to the list and Monday mornings are often an adventure getting to work in Annapolis.”
Now added to the mix and mess of navigating the critical spine of the Eastern Shore is last week’s announcement by Gov. Larry Hogan that the state will spend $5 million on a multi-year study that is the first step in a lengthy process to seek federal funding for a third Bay Bridge estimated to cost $7 billion.
Up to recently, I would have applauded the governor’s announcement. For a long time, I’ve always thought that a third span had to happen. The traffic load on the two existing spans and annoyingly long back-ups, primarily in the summer, demanded a solution. It couldn’t and shouldn’t be delayed.
Now, I think differently. Concerns expressed by Shore residents must receive a hearing.
If I were Gov. Hogan, I would have made the same decision to go forward with money for a study. For years, there’s been bountiful talk about a third span. During Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s term, 2004-2008, a group studied possible locations for a third Bay Bridge. But, the group neither recommended a specific location, nor did it conclude that there should be another span. The political environment was different, marked by a lack of public will to undertake a public works project as hugely expensive and fraught with potential opposition as this one.
Aside from fulfilling a need for a dramatic fix to accommodate a projected daily increase of 22,000 cars by 2040, a third Bay Bridge would have an economic rationale: the delivery of happy and fun-seeking vacationers to Ocean City, Maryland’s mecca of tourism. According to the 2016 Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce legislative priorities, visitor expenditures in this popular resort exceeded $1.4 billion, supported 8,580 jobs and devoted more than $5 million per year in room tax revenue to “destination marketing.” And, according to the chamber’s legislative priorities, tourism growth in Worcester County and Ocean City was 3.8 percent.
Thus, it would be foolhardy to ignore the significance of Ocean City’s economic might when analyzing the political push for another span.
Because I think that Eastern Shore residents are getting short shrift in the still preliminary consideration of Bay Bridge expansion, as if we had chosen to live near a major airport and simply have to suffer the consequences—in this case a highway important to both tourists and residents—I suggest that state planners examine another alternative.
And that is rapid transit from the eastern terminus of the existing Bay Bridge to Ocean City. I bet you didn’t expect that.
This alternative would spawn many critics and skeptics. What sort of train would carry cars, people and sand toys? Does this form of transit exist? If so, at what cost? And, by the way, it does nothing to relieve the congestion on the Bay Bridge.
This is what it does do, possibly: it gives back Route 50 to residents on summer weekends. It therefore restores a quality of life that is slipping away, as tourists hurriedly travel to the beach, oblivious to those of us who must withstand single-minded motorists. It drastically reduces the carbon footprint on the Eastern Shore in the spirit of responding positively to global warming. If Ocean City falls victim to climate change and consequent sea level rise, a transit system would still serve Shore residents.
Like a plaintive child pleading with parents for a favorable decision on any number of matters, I simply ask state planners to consider another alternative to construction of a third Bay Bridge. It seems unfair that Shore residents, though small in number when compared with the thousands of beach-loving visitors from the Western Shore, should relinquish control of their lives from the end of May to the end of August.
As noted, the increasing traffic on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and consequent onslaught that becomes standard fare on Route 50 scream for a solution. I suspect the Bay Bridge conundrum will draw foremost attention.
Eastern Shore voices need to be heard. I hope that happens.
Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.
David Hoopes says
Finally! An idea that makes sense. Building a rapid transit / train system to Ocean City is a much better option than another bridge, no matter where that bridge is located. Better for the environment. Better for Eastern Shore residents. Maybe even cheaper in the long run? But, do Eastern Shore voices count for anything in this process?
Mary Wood says
Wasn’t there once a train from the ferry at Love Point to Ocean City?
Maria Wood says
Railroad service throughout the Eastern Shore as well as from the Western Shore to eastern tourist points makes sense in so many ways. The stubborn, singleminded reliance on individual automobiles is bad for the environment, expensive, isolating, and illogical.
Ruth Tallman says
After reading the article about the $5 billion study, I wrote to Governor Hogan’s office suggesting public transportation. There is established public transportation in Ocean City and most people just park their car for the entirety of their stay, anyway. A train would be very, very expensive, but would be the most efficient. Either a car train like the one successfully running up and down the East Coast to Florida, or a passenger train set up like the airport shuttle buses with plenty of room for luggage as you board. A train would be most useful to those people who have a second home there and don’t have much luggage for the weekend.
The other possibility would be buses. The tunnels into New York City have a dedicated bus lane and, therefore, the buses move smoothly into the city. The same could be done for routes to Ocean City. Big families with several kids, sand chairs, bikes, etc., will still want to stuff their cars and drive over. The young people with no families or just one child, could easily adjust to the bus. As well, as those people/families who have a weekend place.
I hope the Hogan Administration will seriously consider public transportation to reduce the traffic, instead of building a bridge to accommodate even more traffic than we already have.
Tom Voshell says
Public transportation only works if the public uses it.
The problem is everyone thinks the public is someone else not them. A train? Really? So you would be willing to unpack your car and your kids to climb on a train. Wait while everyone else pack their stuff in the train too, delaying you from getting to where you want to go, sit in an environment where you have to suffer the “public and their rotten kids”, and then unpack at the other end into what? A cab? Uber? A public bus?
The vast majority of people support public transportation ideas because it will get “other people” off the road so they can get to where they are going. Our society is built around the freedom of personal transportation. Get used to it, it isn’t going to change unless you are wiling to give up your personal freedom and utilize public transportation yourself.
Your proposal is all about how to get those “other people” out of your way. Try thinking about solutions you would use. Would you be willing to give up your car and start walking if there were walkways over the highway? No? You want to drive your car to go a half mile to the store? Funny how asking someone else to give up a personal freedom you are not willing to give up is so easy to do.
Think about solutions you will use to solve the problem you are faced with, not solutions that other people have to use to solve your problem. Put in a third bridge with a raised highway that doesn’t allow traffic into the local area. How many people will pay a higher toll to drive on express lanes that bypass the local traffic? How much traffic would this eliminate from the local access lanes, allowing you to get where you want to go more easily? Express lanes can be uni-directional, east bound on Friday and Saturday morning. West bound on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday. Bi-directional the rest of the week. Express lanes like this have been proven all over the country.