March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 48 F

Pittman: Let’s not build yesterday’s bridge tomorrow

Anne Arundel County Executive Pittman received a mass email from the Maryland Transportation Authority this morning, indicating that the agency had narrowed down its original list of 14 potential crossing corridors to three, all of which are in Anne Arundel County. According to the MdTA, they will also consider a “no build” option. In response to the announcement, County Executive Pittman issued the following statement:

This morning, I was surprised to find out that the joint federal and state study of potential Bay Bridge crossings had been narrowed down to include only those that cross through Anne Arundel County. Any of the three options will be severely disruptive to existing communities and sensitive environmental areas. All three options could destroy parks along the Chesapeake Bay, at a time when we are trying to expand public water access:

  • The northern crossing (Corridor 6) appears to go through Downs Park
  • The middle crossing (Corridor 7) appears to go through Sandy Point State Park
  • The southern crossing (Corridor 8) appears to go through Beverly Triton Nature Park

The study’s 2040 projections for Bay Bridge traffic are based on an assumption that the Eastern Shore will develop in ways that its communities oppose. I suspect that residents will protect their Eastern Shore land from development interests, and that bridge traffic can be better addressed with the forward-looking public transit options that this study dismisses. If we haven’t figured out how to get cars off the road by the time this bridge gets built, we’ll have much bigger problems to confront than traffic.

Let’s not build yesterday’s bridge tomorrow.

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