The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) road show made a stop in Prince Frederick Tuesday, Oct. 29, giving the Calvert County Commissioners an opportunity to meet the new chief and reconnect with a familiar presence.

The newly appointed MDOT secretary, James T. Smith Jr., was accompanied by several other department officials, including Deputy Secretary of Administration and Operations Wilson H. Parran, a former Calvert commissioner.

Smith reported his department is in the process of updating Maryland’s 20-year transportation vision. “We’re trying to make it something that has input from all over Maryland,” said Smith, who explained the additional revenues from the Transportation Infrastructure Investment Act of 2013 will allow MDOT to move forward with some languishing projects. “The impact of the transportation trust fund is going to be felt all across the state.”

Smith noted money for the upgrade of Route 4 between Route 2 and Route 235—which includes the Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge—has been added to the Consolidated Transportation Plan (CTP). State transportation officials have added $10 million for the design of the replacement bridge and $5 million for the design of “interim improvements along the corridor.”

The allocation brings to $20 million the amount of state money allocated to the bridge and Route 4 project. The $20 million represents approximately one-third of the cost of the design and engineering phase of the project, local transportation officials stated in a project synopsis.

It is estimated that 30,300 vehicles cross the bridge daily. “That bridge is becoming a weekly, twice-weekly issue,” said Commissioner Gerald W. “Jerry” Clark [R]. “We do have commuters within Southern Maryland. It’s a safety issue.” Clark also pointed out the area has “high-profile” locations such as Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Dominion Cove Point LNG Plant—both in Lusby—as well as Patuxent Naval Air Station in St. Mary’s County.

Another bridge replacement project—the Fishing Creek Bridge on Route 261 in Chesapeake Beach, will cost an additional $7.6 million due to the need for additional right-of-way and utilities, a Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) report stated. Those costs are associated with increasing the final bridge height. MDOT Deputy Administrator Douglas H. Simmons reported construction will begin during fiscal year (FY) 2014 and work should be completed by FY 2016.

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