Backups at Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Bridge are a summer traffic fixture, but maybe things would move along much better if there were eight or more travel lanes?
Anne Arundel County and its neighbor on the other side of the water, Queen Anne’s County, want a new, bigger and better bridge between them.
The Anne Arundel County Council passed a resolution 6-1 Monday night that matches a resolution recently passed by the Queen Anne’s County Council.
“As the lead sponsor of the resolution, I feel confident that this is a significant moment for Anne Arundel County, a step toward traffic relief on our local roads so residents can move freely again,” Anne Arundel County Council woman Amanda Fiedler said in a statement, adding that there is a capacity issue with “two existing, aging bridges.”
The resolution calls on the state to replace the current two spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge with one single structure accommodating at least eight travel lanes at the existing site.
Maryland transportation leaders have recommended a new Chesapeake Bay Bridge, but the state’s proposal encompasses a number of different options and locations, including adding a third span to the existing two spans at the present site.
The two counties on the Eastern and Western shores of the bay are calling on the state to scrap the option for a third span.
“A third span at the current location, or an alternate location will not fix traffic in the long term for either Anne Arundel or Queen Anne’s County,” Fiedler said.
Anne Arundel and Queen Anne’s counties say one big bridge is needed at the current location, with a minimum of eight lanes to provide adequate capacity and dependable and reliable travel times.
