BALTIMORE, MD—The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) will hold three open houses in December to discuss proposed alternatives to address traffic issues at the William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial (Chesapeake Bay) Bridge. The open houses are part of the Tier 2 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) study for the Chesapeake Bay Crossing Study.

This study, which is being conducted in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration, will evaluate alternatives to improve capacity and access across the Chesapeake Bay and along the U.S. 50/301 approaches to the Bay Bridge from the MD 2/MD 450 Interchange near Arnold to the U.S. 50/301 split near Grasonville. NEPA evaluation is mandatory for federally funded or approved projects.

At the open houses, the MDTA will present information on the proposed action and the proposed retained alternatives that will be evaluated in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The alternatives include removing the existing eastbound and westbound Bay Bridge spans and replacing them with two new bridge spans near the location of the existing spans. The exact location of any new bridge will be determined by ongoing studies.

The open house dates and times are as follows:

• Virtual Open House: Wednesday, Dec. 4 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at baycrossingstudy.com
• Anne Arundel County Open House: Monday, Dec. 9 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Broadneck High School, 1265 Green Holly Drive, Annapolis
• Queen Anne’s County Open House: Wednesday, Dec. 11 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Kent Island High School, 900 Love Point Road, Stevensville

There will be no formal presentation at the open houses, but the study team will be available to answer questions. Attendees can submit comments on the Tier 2 Study at the open houses or online at baycrossingstudy.com by Jan. 13, 2025. Comments can also be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to: Bay Crossing Study, 2310 Broening Highway, Baltimore, MD 21224.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.

Photo via Pixabay