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Susan Shaw Provides Update on Chesapeake Bay Crossing Task Force

I was pleased to accept Governor Bob Ehrlich’s appointment, along with Delegate Tony O’Donnell, to represent our area on the Task Force on Traffic Capacity Across the Chesapeake Bay, commonly called the Bay Bridge Commission or the Task Force.

The Task Force was constituted as a non-partisan fact-finding body. The two co-chairs, a Republican legislator and a Democrat former Secretary of Transportation for Maryland, made it clear from the beginning that the purpose was NOT to select a crossing location, but to begin the process of determining whether another crossing was needed. It was stressed that the No Build option was a living option

The Chesapeake Bay was divided into 4 grids. Each grid was studied from multiple perspectives including: engineering challenges; economic effects; local infrastructure strengths and liabilities; environmental and sensitive land features like wetlands, cliffs, preserves, parks, and historic resources; origination of traffic and types of traffic as well as efforts to maximize current use of the existing bridges. Meetings have been open to the public and a website that contains virtually all the facts presented can be found at http://www.mdta.state.md.us/ then click on Bay Crossing Task Force.

There is NO “plan to put a second Bay Bridge span in Calvert County” as reported by State Senator Roy Dyson in January, 2006. The facts lean heavily against such a decision. Rather, the Task Force will issue a report in May, 2006 that will discuss whether or not another Bay crossing should even be considered and if so, what the next steps might be. Moving forward would require a lengthy National Environmental Policy Act study of several potential locations that would take from 5 to 7 years. Any construction would be 20 years or more in the future.

There are many topics for worry in these present times. A Chesapeake Bay Bridge originating from Calvert County is not on the list.