Uncategorized
Severn River Bridge Augmentation
TRANSPORTATION
The BCC is supporting the addition of an eastbound lane on the Severn River Bridge. The SHA has completed the ‘alternatives studies’ and is now working on final analysis. Bill Nevel (BCC Director and recent co-Chair of the AA County Transportation Commission) and Pat Lynch (BCC President) are two members of the Bay Bridge Reconstruction Advisory Committee (BBRAC), representing the Broadneck Peninsula/western shore of Rte #50 at quarterly meetings with the Md. Transportation Authority (MdTA).
NEWS:
A multi-million dollar study that was commissioned by the MdTA and targeted for completion this spring, will be presented to the BBRAC Committee in July 2015. The purpose of the study is to determine the status and physical condition of the Bay Bridges by reassessing the aged infrastructures and estimated lifespan of the current bridge spans.. The eastbound structure, built in 1953 and now operating beyond the Bridge’s initial estimated ‘end of life’, is the main subject of the study. We have supported the MdTA’s responsibility to initiate a NEPA study to assess the environmental challenges of potential locations for a new span. Local government authorities must approve the recommended site even if built here in AA County. A new bridge located elsewhere will be a hard sell.
This may be a long and contentious debate as we in Broadneck know the intrusion on our Rte #50 Broadneck Peninsula caused by beach traffic to the Eastern Shore.
—Pat Lynch, BCC
