Maryland, My Maryland

The Key Bridge has not been rebuilt.

There’s raw sewage flooding the Potomac River.

Democrat Wes Moore signs emergency legislation…

To ban local authorities from aiding ICE in removing illegals from Maryland.

Democrats are trying to destroy America.pic.twitter.com/khowHcvqXW

— C3 (@C_3C_3) February 18, 2026

From the Free Bacon, Democrat Wes Moore Stumbles During CBS Town Hall When Asked To Address Free Beacon Reporting About Exaggerations and Falsehoods in His Life Story. Shorter Moore, 'you're racist to question my version of events.'

Maryland, My Maryland - MDTA Proposes to Take Down, Rebuild Bay Bridge

Chesapeake Bay Mag, MD Proposes Removing & Replacing Both Spans of Bay Bridge with New Structures

Maryland transportation leaders are laying out their vision for a new Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and it means taking out the existing two spans entirely to replace them with new, wider spans. The proposal comes with several possible options for number of lanes and exact location. The state is inviting the public to comment and ask questions at three upcoming public meetings: one online, one in Anne Arundel County, and one in Queen Anne’s County. At these meetings, the state will show which alternatives are still being considered and which have been rejected.

Relying on an aging, over-congested Bay Bridge for Maryland’s only Chesapeake Bay crossing has grown into a more pressing problem each year. Back in 2017, the Maryland Transportation Administration (MDTA) launched the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Crossing Study to look at a possible new Bay crossing solution. Any project seeking federal approval or funding needs to assess how people and the environment would be affected under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Tier 1 NEPA study tackled many possible approaches to a Bay crossing, including ferries, tunnels, bridge-tunnels, 14 different possible corridors for a new bridge span, and no-build options. Public comment and further study narrowed the corridors down to three, all stretching from Anne Arundel County on the west side to points from Queen Anne’s to Talbot County on the east side.

 

By the end of Tier 1, the state had narrowed its plans down to “Corridor 7”, the corridor closest to the existing bridge spans. We are now in the midst of Tier 2 in the NEPA study process. MDTA has sifted through which alternatives will be “retained”, or kept in consideration, and which are not being retained as possibilities.

The MDTA lays out its proposed action to remove the existing eastbound and westbound structures, replacing them with two new bridge structures to be built near the location of the existing bridges. While some may be surprised by the news that the existing bridge spans would be pulled down entirely, MDTA points out that the spans are 70 and 50 years old. Major reconstruction would be needed for about half of the next 36 years to make the bridge safe. That means full-time lane closures. Plus, the current spans don’t have any shoulder for disabled vehicles or emergency vehicles to pull over onto. From a navigational perspective, they don’t provide enough vertical clearance for the ever-larger ships that would call on the Port of Baltimore in the future.

A single span, double-decker bridge was considered, but grading it would be challenging and there would be no second span to use in case of closures on one span. The state also lays out the reasons the no-build options aren’t practical at this point. That includes a major Bay crossing ferry, though a proposed tourist ferry line connecting different Bay towns is still separately under consideration. So MDTA is left with their two-span, total replacement plan.

There are six combinations of factors that could be chosen to implement this proposed action. They will be explained at the three open houses. They include various options for number of lanes on each span and the approaches from the west and east sides. The largest number of lanes being considered is 10 bridge lanes and 8 lanes at each approach to the bridge. MDTA says it would provide enough capacity with no backups.

There are also a couple of options on the order of construction and removal of each span. For example, MDTA could build two new spans that would both sit south of the existing spans. Once they’re finished, then crews would remove both existing spans. Or, MDTA could build one span south of the existing spans and remove the existing eastbound span, then build the second new span between the site of the current two and remove the westbound span last.

No mention of cost.  

State Moves To "Dali-Proof" the Bay Bridge

The Balmer Sun, Maryland to bolster protection at Bay Bridge following Baltimore bridge disaster

The massive ships are going to keep coming.

Baltimore’s shipping channel has been at least partially blocked since March 26, when the cargo ship Dali decimated the Francis Scott Key Bridge. After months of cleanup and marine traffic workarounds using temporary channels, the Coast Guard tentatively planned to fully reopen the waterway Monday.

With the return of huge cargo carriers, however, comes an invitation of risk.

Each time one such vessel transits under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis, there is an infinitesimal, but real, degree of danger. When the Dali leveled the Key Bridge, killing six construction workers and eliminating one of Baltimore’s three harbor crossings, it spelled out the peril that huge ships pose to older bridges.

As a result, the Maryland Transportation Authority is studying “short and long-term options to protect the Bay Bridge,” its chief engineer, James Harkness, told The Baltimore Sun in an interview.

“The Bay Bridge is safe and we are just looking to make it as safe as we can.”

With heightened attention on the risks and consequences of major bridge collapse due to vessel collision, the state must decide how to protect the monstrous 4-mile Bay Bridge. It is the state’s most recognizable span — and its most susceptible to being hit by a huge ship.

Following the Key Bridge disaster, the Federal Highway Authority compiled for the first time a preliminary list of 125 U.S. bridges over waterways used by oceangoing vessels, which The Baltimore Sun obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request. The Bay Bridge’s two spans were the only Maryland ones listed.

Both several decades old and with a vertical clearance of about 185 feet, the Bay and Key bridges were often discussed — at least when it came to the shipping channel — in the same breath. Before the Key Bridge collapse, Maryland harbor pilots raised with other port stakeholders the possibility of a ship headed to or from the Port of Baltimore losing power and crashing into one of the bridges’ support piers.

But there was otherwise little focus from stakeholders on pier protection systems, which fortify spans from vessel collision, until the aftermath of March 26, when experts pointed to the lack of robust reinforcements at the Key Bridge. The Bay Bridge, which carries more than twice as much vehicular traffic, could be just as exposed.

The transportation authority said there’s now a “renewed focus” on protecting its bridges.

“We are looking to be underway with long-term improvements by the end of the year,” Harkness said of the Bay Bridge.

A transportation authority spokesperson did not reply when asked for details on what upgrades might look like. Options could be physical barriers, like reinforced piers or a yearslong process to build “dolphins” (artificial islands that could block a stray ship). Or there could be policy changes, such as requiring tugboats escort large ships under the bridge.

Both come with logistical considerations — and price tags. . . . 

It's that or continue to gamble. There's nothing like a good catastrophe to focus the mind.

State Rejects Electric Boat

Maryland officials zap electric ferry proposal for Chesapeake crossing

A new state-sponsored study argues that a car-carrying ferry service would not by itself alleviate traffic on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It would also cost billions of dollars to build and operate.

The 43-page report by the Maryland Transportation Authority and state Department of Transportation concludes that a ferry service wouldn’t resolve traffic woes “as a standalone option.” At least one conservation group is skeptical of the state’s findings, saying it’s too early in the process to discount a ferry or any other option.

For their part, state transportation officials say that they’ll keep the idea simmering, though on the back burner. Ferries could be considered “in combination with other alternatives” if the process to construct a third span across the Bay moves forward, the agencies said in the report.

Gov. Larry Hogan announced in 2016 that the state would conduct a $5 million National Environmental Policy Act study to decide where a new Bay Bridge should be built. Backers say a new bridge is needed to ease gridlock during weekday rush hours and summer weekends. The backups are expected to worsen as the region’s population grows.

The Bay Bridge is part of U.S. Routes 50/301. It is the only Bay vehicular crossing in Maryland.

Last August, the MdTA, which owns and operates the Bay Bridge, proposed three possible routes for a new crossing as well as a “no-build” option. The agency plans to release a draft of the study and recommend a single preferred alternative by the end of this year.

The Olympic Class ferry in Elliott Bay near Seattle’s Discovery Park

One of the plans called for a new bridge at St. Leonard. Not to be to NIMBY, but I'm glad that one seems to be off the table. A ferry terminal might be amusing, though. Bridges offer better fishing, though.

Improvements in battery capacity and life have made electricity a more viable option than ever for ferries, according to the report.

Around the globe, a handful of systems have begun adopting the technology in recent years. Those include the EF Ellen, a Danish ferry with a 26-mile range that began operating in early 2019; the Amherst Island ferry in Canada, which is expected to launch an electric watercraft this year; and the Washington State Ferries system, which has begun converting its fleet from diesels to hybrids.

The state staff who authored the new report sought to find out whether adding a ferry service could be the sole solution for maintaining the Bay Bridge’s current level of service despite heavier travel between the shores. Looking forward to the year 2040, that translates into removing nearly 900 vehicles from the span when traffic is expected to be at its worst, the agencies wrote.

The only way a ferry system could come within striking distance of that figure would be to have it run near the existing bridge, according to the report. To operate efficiently, the system would require three large vessels as well as a fourth for backup.

Each would have to be roomy enough to carry 400 vehicles. No electric ferries of that size exist. A hybrid ferry operating in Scandinavia, though, currently carries up to 460 vehicles.

I wonder how thick the power cord is to recharge a 400 car ferry?

I'm Back!

I met with Pete at 5 AM on the South River for a walk on trip. Out of the South, we headed up to the Thomas Point Lighthouse, where there were no fish, and it was going to be extremely rough. From there we headed across the Bay and north, up to the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which we reached just before sunrise.

We tried a series of piling along the span, using lures of various kinds, with only minor success.

We then headed further north, until we reached the old lighthouse at Love Point. The whole fleet of 17 charter boats was anchored there fishing, and we didn't try to push our way into the crowd.

This illustrates both how poor the Striped Bass population is, and how it got that way.

As the population has declined, the Stripers, which fish is schools, have stayed together, but become more concentrated in certain areas, in this case the upper bay.

Fishermen, using modern fish finders, and can continue to find these concentrations, and continue to catch their limits, both commercial and recreational. Thus, the old feedback mechanism that fisheries yield per unit effort declines with population does not work well with Stripped Bass.

So we contributed to the problem by going back to the Bay Bridge and getting our limit live-lining Spot. I haven't done that in years! It was kind of  fun.

A Bridge Too Far?

The EPA Bay Program's house organ, the Bay Journal: Opponents of new Bay Bridge pushing for alternatives

Maryland’s Bay Bridge consists of two adjacent spans between Annapolis and Kent Island: a two-lane bridge constructed in 1952, which serves as the eastbound route, and a three-lane westbound span that opened in 1973. After more than two years of study, the Maryland Transportation Authority, which operates the 4-mile structures, plans to release a narrowed-down list of possible routes for a potential third span in the coming months.

The $5 million analysis is expected to name a “preferred corridor alternative” by December 2020. Under the most sanguine time line, a new bridge would still entail a decade or more of planning and construction before it could open, planners say.

As the study nears its next stage, many environmentalists and smart growth advocates are questioning the necessity of a third bridge. They want the state to explore alternatives, such as expanding mass transit or launching a ferry service.

“Given how much money is involved and the time frame for the construction of a new bridge, there needs to be consideration of other options,” said Kimberly Golden Brandt, director of Smart Growth Maryland.

Based on what is publicly known about the study, though, some observers doubt that the state is doing that.

Earlier this year, the MDTA released a report on the Purpose and Need for a third Bay crossing in Maryland, stating that the study’s aim is to “consider corridors for providing additional capacity and access across the Chesapeake Bay.” Transportation planners presented a “no-build” option but only to show how congested the existing spans will become by 2040 unless another bridge is built.

An MDTA spokesman declined to comment or make anyone within the department available for an interview for this report.

But at a recent meeting about the crossing study, a top official with the Maryland Department of Transportation threw cold water on suggestions that a ferry, a rail service or buses could alleviate the Bay Bridge’s traffic woes.

No fewer than six studies were conducted between 2000–07 to look at the possibility of connecting the Eastern and Western shores via a ferry service, said Heather Murphy, MDOT’s planning director.

The ferry option that would remove the most traffic from the bridge — a low-speed ferry shuttling between Chesapeake Beach and Cambridge — only managed a cut of 917 vehicles, less than 1% of the peak summer season congestion. Talk of a ferry system needs to be “decoupled from that of a third bridge,” a governor-appointed ferry committee concluded in 2007.

1%? That's rounding error.

“They didn’t see how that would relieve enough traffic off the Bay Bridge,” Murphy said.

A rapid transit bus service or rail system could siphon off about 1,250 vehicles from the bridge’s eastbound lanes during busy summer weekends, she said, citing a 2007 MDTA report. But that would still represent only about a 1% traffic reduction and come with a price tag ranging from $400 million for bus service between Annapolis and Kent Island to nearly $30 billion for a heavy rail system extending from Washington, DC, to Ocean City.

“You really need a lot more density than we have” to make a mass transit option work economically, Murphy said. “Yeah, you could take some of the traffic of the Bay Bridge and put it on mass transit, but it would be nowhere near the numbers we would need and at a very high cost.”

So it looks as if any non-bridge options simply don't carry enough to relieve any significant traffic.

Anywhere they locate a new span, it will significantly impact the people nearby, mostly for the worse, bringing more traffic and noise. Of course, gas stations and mini-marts will benefit, as well as a few business on the destination side. Plus, the structure makes for pretty good fishing.

Our local area is #12 in the list of options for a new bay bridge span. Low enough that we're probably pretty safe.

We're Number Twelve!

4 Possible Bay Bridge Crossings in Calvert

The Bay Bridge Crossing Study is progressing, and new maps showing 14 possible crossings have been published. Four of those possible crossings are in Calvert County, with another proposed in St. Mary's that would drastically affect our traffic.  The four proposed in Calvert are in Chesapeake Beach, Plum Point, St. Leonard, and Cove Point.  Click here to view the full set of maps, each of which shows different features such as land use, environmentally sensitive areas, etc. which will be taken into account during the decision-making process. Note that the maps are labelled, "Draft" and "Pre-Decisional and Deliberative".

It isn't difficult for County residents to imagine what a huge impact a crossing anywhere in Calvert would have. Queen Anne's County, where traffic from the current Bay Bridge is most felt, sees an explosion of traffic in the summer - upwards of 118,000 daily trips on weekends, with six lanes of traffic along portions of MD 50. Queen Anne's becomes a divided County, with backups along the highway that can run for miles and local residents unable to go anywhere.

Here's a map:

Yep, number 12 is right smack on top of us. I'm not too worried; they've been talking about a new Bay Bridge since we arrived in Maryland, and they don't seem especially close yet. I do wonder why they don't propose to take advantage of the slightly shorter path from the terminus at Cove Point to the place where #12 touches down on Taylors Island.