A Third Bay Bridge Threatens Kent County

The Process

In a video broadcast on November 15th, the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) laid out plans for a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for bridging the Chesapeake Bay in order to provide additional traffic capacity and access between the bay’s Eastern and Western Shores in Maryland.

For the purpose of the study, Maryland’s portion of the bay has been divided into six sections. Each section will be evaluated for a crossing on the basis of both cost and environmental impacts. The schedule will proceed through summer of 2020, with milestones along the way. Identification of the preferred corridor is projected for Fall 2019/Winter 2020. This amounts to a fast-tracked approach.

Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance encourages all readers to get involved in this process. Once the Final Tier 1 EIS is published and a Record of Decision is made by the summer of 2020, changing the chosen location(s) would be unlikely. The MDTA has allocated $5 million to conduct this study. 2020 may seem to be the distant future, but it is not. In fact, we have just about a year within the process laid out at baycrossingstudy.com. The time to act to make sure a third Chesapeake Bay span does not land in Kent County is NOW.

The Impacts

Anyone can imagine the impacts of a third bay bridge on this small county by looking at what has happened to Kent Island and the Narrows – and what is currently happening just up the road in Middletown. Delaware’s bypass connecting US Route 301 to US Route 1 and thence to I-95, a project that is almost complete, will only add pressure to change what little countryside remains in the Middletown area. A bridge across the Chesapeake Bay that lands here would similarly destroy Kent County’s rural nature. There is no way to “mitigate” (which is a word that developers use when trying to cover up the destruction) a project like this. We would become a de facto suburb for Baltimore City and County. Our best bet for continuing Kent County’s quality of life and economic traditions is to avoid a crossing altogether.

Kent County has consistently been adamant that we do not want a Bay Bridge Crossing to our shore. Our Comprehensive Plan clearly states that we do not want this project. Every year when MDOT leaders make their pilgrimage to Kent County for an annual presentation to the Kent County Commissioners, they are always told that Kent County opposes a bay bridge here. Unfortunately, that has not prevented MDTA from including Kent County as part of their study.

TAKE ACTION!

You might ask why the MDTA doesn’t just build a third span next to the current bridge. The residents of Queen Anne’s and Anne Arundel Counties have experienced the destruction a bridge can bring to communities and many are adamantly opposed to that option.

We need to be just as adamant as the Queen Anne’s County residents and block any proposal to put a span in Kent County! YOU and your family and friends need to comment on the MDTA plans by December 15.

Please go to the website baycrossingstudy.com, where you will find an easy-to-use comment form. Here are some ideas for your comments:

  • What will transportation really look like in the future?
  • Do we really want to encourage more people to take to the roads in cars?
  • Should the Eastern Shore be even more exposed as an area of expansion for urban sprawl from the Western Shore?
  • What is the impact on the environment and the bay’s water quality of the miles of impervious surfaces that will cover what is now open land?
  • Exactly where are we moving people to?
  • Are there other methods for easing congestion? Why not try congestion pricing for bridge tolls (both ways), or removing the toll booths and make crossing be available only with E-ZPass® (this is working fine on the Golden Gate Bridge in SF)?

The challenge in preparing a tiered study is determining the details of the tiered approach, which is not clear in information currently available and could work to Kent County’s disadvantage. Questions YOU can ask about the process:

  • What decisions will be made in each tier?
  • How much detail is appropriate in each tier?
  • How will requirements under other environmental laws (such as historic preservation consultation, endangered species consultation, wetlands permitting, and required protection of historic resources and open space under transportation law) be addressed in each tier?
  • How will agencies and the public be involved in the design of the tiered process in order to answer these questions?
  • What will be done to educate agencies and the public specifically about the tiered process?

Please send us a copy of your comments and contact us if you have any questions.