To be very clear, the State of Maryland is a long way from breaking ground on a new span across the Chesapeake Bay. The process that started this year with a “tier one” analysis is a first step of a decade-long review of the feasibility of building a third Bay bridge to Kent County, the Lower Shore, or a new bridge to Bay Bridge’s existing location.
But this long-term planning process has not slowed down a grassroots effort to provide organized opposition to a new link from Baltimore to Kent County. In fact, like many other controversial issues in the past which would permanently impact the County’s centuries old cultural landscape, resistance began almost simultaneously as the State seeks comments on a “Purpose and Need” report to the Governor which will identify ten to fifteen locations that hypothetically could support a new bridge.
The Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance, the same group who recently played a critical role in stopping wind turbines from being built in Kent County, has now stepped up early to make their concerns known. And leading that effort for the nonprofit is board member Elizabeth Watson who is uniquely qualified to make a case against a bridge in Kent County.
With an extensive background as an independent consultant since 1993, Watson has worked in more than a dozen heritage protection sites or greenway initiatives, which combine regional planning with resource conservation, tourism development, and community education initiatives. She is also the co-author of Saving America’s Countryside: A Guide to Rural Conservation which grew out of her earliest working experience worked for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Rural Program.
The Spy sat down with Watson at the White Swan Tavern a few weeks ago to talk about her case against the bridge, her observations about Kent County’s economic development potential, and her insistence that this is the time for the citizens to speak out clearly and loudly to oppose this environmentally threatening new infrastructure.
This video is approximately eight minutes in length. For more information about the Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance please go here.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.