All the blue and white evacuation signs all lead to the existing Bay Bridges. The proposed routes that make the most sense are either 11 or 12, by diverting Washington, DC and Northern VA away from the existing Bay Bridges, and by coming into Route 50 below Cambridge, when Route 50 traffic starts to thin out.Īnother reason for proposed routes 11 or 12 making sense would be for the very likely emergency evacuation of the Delmarva due to a life threatening storm that would require such an evacuation. Albeit, some Route 50 traffic makes that left at Route 404 to get to DE shore destination points. Proposed routes eight, nine and 10 would, again, dump 3,000 or 4,500 vehicles mid-way between the split and Cambridge. At 1500 vehicles per hour per lane during peak seasonal travel times, a new Bridge at any of these points exacerbates the Route 50 congestion adding 3,000 or 4,500 vehicles per hour depending on the number of lanes the new Bridge has. Routes one thru six don’t make any sense, as a Bridge at any of these points would dump even more traffic onto an already congested Route 50 from the split to the DE and MD shore destination points. Proposed route 14 will never happen for two reasons: it is too long, and therefore financially not viable, and it will do nothing to address the “Purpose And Need” for another Bay Bridge as defined by the MDTA it is too far south. Proposed routes one, two and three will never see the light of day as they are very near to, or cross Aberdeen Proving Grounds on the western shore. There are not dates on these maps, so no one knows how old they are, but they do pattern themselves within the six zones originally provided by and discussed by the MDTA when the Tier 1 NEPA process started more than two years ago.Ĭorrection to the article the closest to Baltimore City are proposed routes three, four and five, which would cut across Southeast Baltimore County and over to Kent County, not Queen Anne’s County! Given the severe congestion that happens along the two existing routes to traverse the bay, particularly during the summer, Hogan forecast at the time, “the reality is that there is simply too much traffic, and that it will continue to get worse.” More specifically, Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn predicted that at the current rate of tourist travel, delays on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge could stretch 14 miles for commuters by 2040. Larry Hogan’s administration announced plans in 2016 to study how and where to build a a second bay crossing in Maryland–and a third one overall–citing traffic as the chief motivation. I can’t say that’s how they’re gonna look a few months from now in the spring, when we get to those open houses.” “These are draft, pre-decisional maps, so they’re not final,” the agency spokesman said, later adding, “That’s how those maps exist today. But Sales noted that these aren’t necessarily the final choices. Unsurprisingly, they’re already drawing some strong responses from people who live along those routes, as reported today by the Calvert County Recorder. “We don’t know exactly how it go out there, to be honest with you,” Sales said. Robin Grammer of Baltimore County posted on Friday, neither the state nor the Federal Highway Administration released them. Tradepoint Atlantic.Īccording to John Sales, manager of public affairs for the Maryland Transportation Authority, these weren’t supposed to made public just yet–not before the agency schedules a series of open houses to solicit public feedback. Respectively, those would begin near I-95 in Essex, near I-695 in Middle River and near I-695 in Sparrows Point, a.k.a. Closest to Baltimore City are routes three, four and five, which would cut across Southeast Baltimore County and over to Queen Anne’s County.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |