Proposed Bay Bridge 3rd Span Location Focus Of Public Hearings

MARYLAND — Four public hearings have been schedule for later this month to allow the public to review and comment on the environmental impact statement tied to adding another span to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The Maryland Transportation Authority and the Federal Highway Administration are hosting the hearings; see the time and dates below.

The debate over whether to add another span to the Bay Bridge has been years in the making. The Maryland Transportation Authority, which operates the bridge, recommended a third crossing near the current two spans in Annapolis.

This preferred area is known as Corridor 7. Highway officials think building here would relieve the most traffic.

The tier 1 environmental study for the ongoing Chesapeake Bay Crossing study is available for review and comment at baycrossingstudy.com. The purpose of the study is to consider two-mile-wide corridors to provide additional capacity and access across the Chesapeake Bay to improve mobility, travel reliability and safety at the existing William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial (Bay) Bridge, while considering financial viability and environmental responsibility.

The MDTA is accepting comments on the Bay Crossing environmental impact study for the public record through May 10.

The public hearings consist of two components – a public hearing virtual information room and live testimony sessions. The VIR is available on baycrossingstudy.com. In the VIR, attendees can review information on the tier 1 DEIS, register to give public testimony and learn how to submit written comments. Call-in and in-person testimony sessions will be held this month.

The public may testify at one of the testimony sessions. Anyone who wishes to provide testimony, visit baycrossingstudy.com to register. If someone cannot access the project website, call 1-877-249-8370 to register.

Due to current coronavirus health precautions, the public is encouraged to provide public testimony through the call-in sessions. The testimony sessions are intended for live testimony only and will not include presentations nor responses to questions. The dates and times are:

All comments received, whether at the hearing through oral testimony or through other methods – such as via the project website, email at info@baycrossingstudy.com, and mail at Bay Crossing Study, 2310 Broening Highway, Baltimore, MD 21224 – will be given equal consideration. The Bay Crossing environmental study tier 1 DEIS can be viewed online at baycrossingstudy.com or in-person at the following viewing locations:

*Please check baycrossingstudy.com for up-to-date in-person viewing locations
**By appointment only

The Other Options

The proposal is tentative, and other options are still under consideration. Those potentials are:

• Building no more bridges
• Constructing a crossing from Pasadena to the Eastern Shore (Corridor 6)
• Erecting a span from Mayo to the Eastern shore (Corridor 8)

Under the Pasadena potential, cars would follow Maryland Route 100 until it hits Maryland Route 177. The bridge would jet out near Gibson Island and tie into U.S. Route 301 on the Eastern Shore.
With the Mayo possibility, traffic would flow from U.S. Route 50 to Maryland Route 424 and into Maryland Route 214 on the Western Shore. The crossing would start around the mouth of Rhode River near Beverly Triton Nature Park. This would eventually connect with U.S. Route 50 on the Eastern Shore.

Both the Pasadena and Mayo plans would require building new roads on the Eastern Shore to connect to main thoroughfares. Like state highway officials, Gov. Larry Hogan doesn't think either of these pitches is suitable.

The release of the DEIS is one step in the Bay Crossing tier 1 study. Additional steps include identifying a selected corridor alternative and publishing a combined final environmental impact statement/record of decision document in collaboration with FHWA, expected to be complete in winter 2021/2022.

After the tier 1 NEPA study is completed and should funding become available, a potential tier 2 study could be initiated. A tier 2 study would examine how to adapt and build roads within the selected corridor. That state may never reach that second period of research, as it has not yet secured funding for the additional study.

A Tier 2 NEPA Study could take three to five years to:

• identify and evaluate a no-build alternative and various crossing alignments within the two-mile-wide tier 1 selected corridor alternative;
• evaluate how buses, ferries, transportation system management and demand management could be used in conjunction with these crossing alignments;
• review potential environmental impacts;
• determine project delivery methods, such as design-bid-build or design-build, to organize and finance design, construction, operations and maintenance; and
• develop a financial plan that could lead to FHWA ultimately approving one alignment with a tier 2 ROD. The process would need a Tier 2 record of decision before proceeding to final design, right-of-way acquisition and construction if a build alignment alternative is selected.

Read more: New Bay Bridge Crossing Site Proposed By MD Officials