In 2019, when transportation planners were studying more than a dozen potential locations for a new Chesapeake Bay crossing, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. made headlines when he declared there was only one option he would embrace.

“There is only one option I will ever accept: adding a third span to our existing Bay Bridge,” tweeted Hogan, brushing aside the 14 official “corridor” options which stretched the entire length of the bay. “While the federal process requires multiple proposals, the data is indisputable — this option would maximize congestion relief & minimize environmental impact.”

Over the course of the last few months, however, officials from 12 of Maryland’s 23 counties have quietly embraced a new concept for easing congestion at the Bay Bridge: a new span, with eight or more lanes, to replace the existing spans.

The 12 counties, along with summer destination Ocean City, have passed resolutions or sent letters of support for the concept. Some jurisdictions have directed their letters to Hogan (R) and/or transportation secretary James F. Ports Jr. Others have sent letters of support directly to the Queen Anne’s County Commission, where the idea appears to have originated.

The letters of support are short — typically one page — and strike similar themes.

 CLICK HERE to read the letters. 

“Due to the numerous commuters who use this bridge and the lack of alternative routes, periods of congestion have resulted in major delays despite the rerouting of traffic,” wrote Dorchester County Council President Jay L. Newcomb (D). “This is particularly troubling since it provides vital access for emergency services, patient transports and fire response as well as to medical care, residents’ places of employment and the homes of their family and friends.”

Queen Anne’s Commission Chair James Moran (R) said he and his colleagues have made a concerted push to get local leaders to back the replacement bridge concept. He said the current congestion on and near the span, which impacts communities closest the bridge disproportionately, will only get worse as the Eastern Shore grows.

“We’re asking for an eight-lane crossing,” he said. “That’s why we’ve been lobbying all the other counties, because a project of this magnitude is going to take everybody being on board.”

Last week the Federal Highway Administration embraced the state’s preliminary conclusion that a new crossing in the general vicinity of the existing bridge would draw more traffic away from the current spans than other locations that were studied.

That finding clears the way for a second study that would consider where — within a two-mile “corridor” — a new bridge should go. A “Tier 2” study would cost approximately $40 million, officials have said. The state has yet to commit the funding, though Maryland has a massive surplus and Hogan has indicated that moving forward on a new crossing is a top priority.

The term-limited executive is set to leave office in January.

The two-lane eastbound span is nearly 70 years old. The three-lane westbound span opened in 1973.

Sen. Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) said replacing the current spans with a single eight-lane bridge makes the most fiscal sense. “I don’t see a scenario where all three remain there. I think that’s not cost-effective,” he said. “I think you have to build something that can accommodate everything, without the cost of maintaining the other two.”

Moran has urged Hogan to fund the next second study immediately, as it would tackle the environmental and design considerations needed to move forward with construction. “Phase 2 of the [National Environmental Policy Act process] will tell you if, in fact, one bridge comes down, or two bridges come down,” he said. “But it is our understanding that one of those bridges will come down for sure — if not both.”

At the Maryland Transportation Authority’s monthly meeting on Thursday, Ports criticized the media for advancing a “false narrative” that Maryland was pursing a third span — what Hogan called the “only … option I will ever accept” in 2019.

“That’s something that’s never come from this organization,” he said. “It came from whomever and the press. But I want to make it clear that that has never come from us. We are not in a position to determine that at this time.”

In a subsequent interview, Ports stressed that, under federal rules, the state cannot pre-determine the best option for any project. “I cannot talk about what the bridge might look like,” he said. “I can’t say that because of the NEPA process. I can’t drive that narrative.”

Ports said persistent reports of a “third span” near the Bay Bridge have caused residents of nearby neighborhoods to “get really, really upset.” He said he and the authority’s executive director, Will Pines, “worked very hard with all of the communities, especially Anne Arundel County and Queen Anne’s County, on trying to get these resolutions from the counties to support this effort.”

Although most of the focus has been on the size and location of the new span, Pines told the authority’s board that planners are focusing on improving mobility in the entire 22-mile corridor that runs from the Severn River to the U.S. 301/50 split.

The study, he stressed, “included both on-land and over-water improvements.”

“This is not just a bridge study,” he added. “It also includes the entire corridor lanes of highway improvements as well.”

Pines said the first study’s selection of “Corridor 7,” the area around the current bridge, does not lock the state in to a third span. A single replacement bridge, he said, would remain a “viable” option.

By Bruce DePuyt

Federal highway officials have given the go-ahead for Maryland to move forward with plans to build a new Chesapeake Bay crossing near the existing Bay Bridge spans.

The Maryland Transportation Authority studied 14 potential options for a new bridge before selecting “Corridor 7,” the area adjacent to the two spans that connect the Annapolis area and Queen Anne’s County.

In approving Maryland’s “Tier 1” analysis, federal officials paved the way for the state to advance to the next phase in the process. A “Tier 2” study would produce an exact location for a third span, “within the two-mile-wide Selected Corridor Alternative.”

The next study would also consider a broad range of environmental and traffic impacts associated with construction and operation of a new bridge and the state would be required to identify its funding source. There would also be an analysis of how traffic and the environment would be impacted by a decision not to expand capacity.

The Federal Highway Administration issued its “record of decision” in tandem with a final environment impact statement on April 14. The MDTA released it on Thursday.

Many Anne Arundel and Queen Anne’s residents oppose a third span near the existing crossings. They argue that Routes 50 and 301 and arterial roads are already jammed with “through” traffic, particularly during the morning and afternoon commutes and on weekends during beach season. They complain of being virtual prisoners in their neighborhoods and of emergency vehicles that get delayed in miles-long traffic backups.

In October, the Anne Arundel County Council approved a resolution to replace the currents spans with a single bridge, with at least eight lanes, at the same location. Council members said that option represented “the best solution to maintain forward progress, support the investments already made along the US Route 50/301 corridor… and address the existing and future traffic capacity shortfalls.”

But Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) said on Thursday “we would have preferred a crossing that would draw traffic to other corridors.”

“[W]e must now work to ensure that the next phase of study protects our existing communities and environmentally-sensitive areas,” he said in a statement. “We must also explore future traffic patterns along the whole Route 50 corridor, including options for public transit, shifts from sprawl development to smart growth, and telecommuting. We must not build yesterday’s bridge tomorrow.”

A new bridge near the existing spans would be significantly shorter than neighboring alignments because the bay is narrower there. A third span would run approximately four miles, roughly one-third of the length of the closest alternatives.In reaching their conclusion that Corridor 7 is the best option, analysts concluded that it would draw more vehicles away from the current crossings than a new bridge further north or south.

“Corridor 7 would require a much shorter crossing of the Chesapeake Bay compared to Corridors 6 and 8, which would potentially result in lower impacts to the open water of the Bay and other major waterways,” the study found. “A longer crossing would require greater impervious surfaces, more substantial construction, and a greater overall footprint of area impacted in the Chesapeake Bay and other major water bodies.”

A new bridge would cost between $5.4 billion and $8.9 billion, according to the study. A bridge-tunnel would cost between $8 bill and $13.1 billion.

Traffic is expected to grow as more housing developments go up on the Eastern Shore, though the growth in telework could blunt some of that increase. The study’s authors said “it is too soon to define or to accurately assess the long-term impacts” of pandemic-induced changes in commuting patterns.

Whether Maryland moves forward with a Tier 2 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis is unclear. Such studies run into the tens of millions of dollars and the Hogan administration has yet to commit the necessary funds.

An MDOT spokesperson declined to say on Thursday whether Maryland will move toward a Tier 2 study or leave it to the next administration. Two years ago, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) said he would only accept one of the 14 alignments being studied — Corridor 7.

“There is only one option I will ever accept: adding a third span to our existing Bay Bridge,” Hogan wrote on Twitter. “While the federal process requires multiple proposals, the data is indisputable — this option would maximize congestion relief & minimize environmental impact.”

A Tier 2 study would cost between $35 million and $45 million, said James Moran, chair of the Queen Anne’s Board of County Commissioners, who also favors a single replacement span. “We want the governor to put that in the budget,” he said. “We want no hesitation, because the longer this takes, the worse things get.”

Michael Ricci, a Hogan spokesman, said he “is pleased with this progress, and looks forward to reviewing next steps for moving the project forward.”

Moran also wants the state to seek federal funding for construction of the new span.

Jay Falstad, head of the Queen Anne’s Conservation Association, said the study’s acknowledgement that the future of telework remains unclear conflicts with the decision to move toward a third span. “If it’s too soon to define or accurately asses the long term impacts, then it’s too soon to move forward with a Tier 2 review,” he said.

A study commissioned by the conservation group and performed by Hanover, Md.-based AKRF concluded that the benefits of a new span would not last long because it would attract “new travelers.”

“The widening of the Bay Bridge would temporarily relieve congestion on the bridge itself, but not on the highways leading to it unless they were also widened,” the study’s authors concluded. “The additional traffic attracted to the wider bridge would correspondingly require widening of large stretches of US 50 in the years following the bridge project to avoid new traffic bottlenecks. Unfortunately, the extent and repercussions of this ‘induced traffic demand’ to roadways beyond the vicinity of the bridge were not considered in the DEIS.”

By Bruce DePuyt