Gov. Larry Hogan’s announcement last week that he will only consider a third Bay Bridge next to the existing spans on Kent Island was welcome news to leaders in Kent and Queen Anne’s counties, but reaction from conservation groups was mixed.
Queen Anne’s County Commissioner President Jim Moran said Kent Island is the only reasonable choice for a new span because “the state already owns the right of way…to enlarge roadways, access roads, and overpasses.”
The Maryland Department of Transportation had considered multiple sites and on Aug. 27 announced it had narrowed the options to three, but Hogan said the next day he would only support the Kent Island option. The two remaining options would have touched down in Kent or Talbot counties.
Moran said efforts to secure right-of-ways at the other locations would bog the state down in lawsuits for a decade. He believes the permitting process would be less problematic at Kent Island and cost the state far less than the other locations.
“If a new crossing is built anywhere else you will need multiple studies for every mile of infrastructure across water and land, and again this could take a decade to complete the process.”
He said that a new span is needed more than ever at Kent Island because improvements have been made to “move traffic as efficiently as possible across the Bay Bridge.”
“This includes years of upgrades to routes 50 and 404, and now a new toll road in Delaware that brings traffic off of Interstate 95 and dumps onto Route 301 with a direct shot to the existing Bay Bridge,” he said. “So the traffic is here, and it used to move smoothly through our county, but over the last five years the volume is more than the existing bridge can handle, and it is getting exponentially worse.”
He said the infrastructure improvements for a Kent Island span could reduce beach traffic on local roads and make it safer for bike and pedestrian traffic.
QACA Will Oppose Kent Island Option
Queen Anne’s Conservation Association, a nonprofit that promotes rural stewardship and sustainable growth said it would fight Hogan’s plan.
“We plan on aggressively opposing the span at Kent Island,” said QACA Executive Director Jay Falstad. “We believe that the state has not exhausted or fully considered other options which might reduce traffic flow and make things more efficient.”
Falstad said high-speed tolling and employing “congestion pricing” could mitigate much of the traffic problem.
Congestion pricing incentivizes motorists to travel during off-peak hours by offering a toll discount. During peak hours the toll rate is increased significantly. Falstad believes congestion could be reduced by giving beachgoers the option to choose off-peak travel times to save money.
The InterCounty Connector, which connects Gaithersburg and Laurel, has no manned toll booths and uses congestion pricing. For motorists without E-Zpass, video snapshots of license plates are used to bill motorists at the address the vehicle is registered.
Hershey Says Hogan Plan is Best Option
Sen. Minority Whip Steve Hershey said infrastructure on the Queen Anne’s side of the spans would be a priority.
“Gov. Hogan is absolutely correct, there is only one option that will best alleviate our current and projected congestion issues while remaining sensitive to overall costs,” Hershey, R-Queen Anne’s, said in a statement to the Spy. “Our focus will be to ensure the infrastructure in Queen Anne’s County, including local roads and bridges, is considered and appropriately upgraded within the scope of the project.”
Kent County Commissioners Tom Mason and Ron Fithian support Hogan’s choice of Kent Island but were concerned that the project could fail to break ground before the end of Hogan’s second term. Mason said a new administration might not see the urgency for a third crossing, “adding years to the process.”
KCPA Neutral
Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance, which has opposed a third span touching down in Kent County, did not endorse Hogan’s plan but said the Kent Island option was a forgone conclusion based on a 2015 MDTA study.
“… if a third span is to be built the best option would be where the current bridge stands,” said Janet Christensen-Lewis of KCPA. She said KCPA would continue to oppose any plan to bring a bridge to Kent County.
Marty Stetson says
I often wonder if these bridge studies are job security for a group of SHA employees, We had the same thing when they showed up here with six different options for a crossing of the Chester River. They had several meetings then came to the conclusion that everyone had before the study that it should be built crossing at the same location they designated 40 years ago, the only one that made any sense. The Kent side near the old brick yard.
Timothy Sullivan says
The Queen’s Conservation Association and Jay Falstad, need to find another area to live in. I’ve worked heavy highway construction since 1972. I also spent six ( 6 ) years at the Bay Bridge as an inspector. If you had read the papers, the Bay Bridge and all facilities that the MDTA has tolls on are going totally electronic tolling. I’ve always said that in between the East and West span was the best place for a new bridge. No need for any new infrastructure.
Susan De Simone says
Because the infrastructure is already there, building the new bridge as a third span where the two spans already stand is a no-brainer.
Steven Cades says
I’ve read the documentation MD DOT has posted on their website (a bit hard to find, but here. While I recognize that some might assert that DOT was “cooking the books,” the docs make a compelling case for “the third crossing.” Some things I’d note: the distance DOT specifies for analysis for “corridor 7” stretches from Crofton on the west to Queenstown on the east. The implication of that is that construction to support the crossing might run that whole distance, including, for example, adding a lane or two in each direction through the Annapolis region. Think about what that will mean for both traffic disruption during the construction, and the number of properties to be acquired for widened right-of-way. And proportionate disruption through the Queen Anne’s side. (The good news is that the toll booths will disappear, replaced by overhead structures to support electronic-only tolling.)
Given the time required for environmental studies, roadway design, finding necessary funding, acquiring necessary property (along the entire route!), letting contracts, etc., I can’t imagine any construction starting before five years from now, and including delays and countless lawsuits, perhaps even a decade out. In the meantime, those who use the existing bridges can look forward to increasing congestion.
While Corridor 6, which touches down in Rock Hall, is still technically in the mix, the Governor’s assertion that he’d only approve going forward with Corridor 7 means that we in Kent County can be pretty sure we will be spared whatever a bay crossing might have brought.