Maryland Department of Transportation officials meet with the Charles County Commissioners and the Southern Maryland delegation Tuesday, Oct. 18.
La Plata, MD – If one thing came out of the Maryland Department of Transportation’s annual report to the Charles County Commissioners Tuesday, Oct. 18 in La Plata, it’s that preliminary funds are in place to begin work on a new span for the Gov. Harry W. Nice Bridge linking Maryland to Virginia.
Jim Ports, deputy secretary for the Maryland Department of Transportation, said the state’s six-year Consolidated Transportation Plan for fiscal years FY 17-22 includes $61 million over six years for an environmental study, test boring and preliminary engineering for the new bridge.
“These are the final steps to get the project to the point where we can go to a design and build,” Ports said.
Maryland State Senator Thomas H. “Mac” Middleton said a showdown over the governor’s veto of a bill which would allow Charles County to establish a gambling site in Colonial Beach, VA to provide funding for the new crossing, could be prevented if the Southern Maryland delegation could be assured by the state that future money would be provided.
“Before the governor came into office, the Maryland Transit Authority declared the Nice Bridge was in distress and it came down to either re-decking or a new bridge. We came to a conclusion and there was a $5 million commitment made to move this forward,” Middleton stated.
“We want some certainty that once that $61 million is gone the rest will be there,” he added.
“We’re looking to override the veto, but it doesn’t have to be that way,” Middleton stressed. “If we can get together with the MTA and can be assured that money is going to be there, we can avoid that [veto override]. I hope we don’t get to this legislative session without having sat down and talked.”
“July was a bad month for the Nice Bridge,” Charles County Commissioner Ken Robinson said. “Something fell. There were accidents. There’s no shoulder on the bridge. Something as simple as a flat tire can cause a problem and traffic can be backed up for miles.”
At one point, the discussion became heated after Middleton said he was tired of seeing desperately needed projects pushed back year after year.
“If everything is a priority, then nothing becomes a priority,” he asserted.
“There’s a lot of confusion about this bill,” Posts noted. “People will disagree. Mac will tell you, I fight like a tiger on the issues, but we will go and have lunch at the end of the day. It’s not personal.”
“I think the frustration you’re hearing from us is that sometimes Charles County feels like the state’s step-child,” Robinson said. “Yes, we can reap the benefits from what’s taking place in Prince George’s County, but what happens on the Nice Bridge has impacts in so many areas.
“You not only have the Maryland and Virginia traffic, but you also have truck traffic from the Carolina, you have truck traffic heading south from Maine and New York,” he added. “The epicenter is in Charles County and we would like to see some construction in Charles County on some of our priorities.”
Charles did see funding in other areas.
On Route 234, a new span will be built over Gilbert Swamp Road in Allen’s Fresh, a project scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2018; and $9 million is included for Route 254 at the Neale Sound and Cobb Island, dedicated to a new bridge next to the existing bridge.
Another $7.1 million is included over the next six years for local projects and another $75,750 for highway safety in Charles County, part of $12.5 million in highway safety grants distributed statewide.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com
