The ‘war on the Shore’ – another shot fired across the bow

I’m not sure that our Congressman needs to be involved in this; then again I’m sure he’s going to be affected when his EZPass becomes more expensive.

But Andy Harris will be holding a press conference tomorrow afternoon in Stevensville to talk about “the proposed 320% Bay Bridge toll hike and other toll increases that will hurt Maryland families, Maryland businesses and job creators.” Included in that gabfest will be a number of Maryland legislators and local business owners who will be affected by the fee increases. I won’t be there, but it’s relatively predictable that Harris would come out against toll increases which may hit just about the same time the General Assembly is debating a gas tax hike.

Of course, the Maryland Transportation Authority defends the increases, citing an increased need for maintenance on aging infrastructure. But the problem is that we’ve been paying the tolls for years, yet Annapolis continues to raid the transportation funds to balance the overall budget – who says that trend won’t continue?

And this increase will affect three sets of people disproportionately:

  • Commuters in Baltimore will have to pay more to drive through the Harbor Tunnel or over the Key Bridge.
  • Tourists and north-south travelers along I-95 will be hit once they cross the Delaware line (or Susquehanna River.)
  • The Eastern Shore, as both main arteries crossing the Bay in Maryland will see a toll increase.

Obviously the third one concerns us, especially those who chose to live on the Eastern Shore yet commute to work in Annapolis, Baltimore, or Washington, D.C. While the increase will be blunted for those who have EZPass it will still be a much larger monthly outlay. On the other hand, the drive between Baltimore and D.C. will remain as it is – even the new Inter-County Connector will be spared a toll increase. If you want to stay in the center of the state, well, these toll increases aren’t hurting you a bit (but you may reap the benefits.)

And as for the one reason I would support a modest toll increase (as opposed to 320%) – a third Chesapeake Bay span, but one closer to Salisbury? Well, apparently that’s not on the table as MTA is just trying to hold serve with fixing the stuff it has.

This will also serve to isolate the Eastern Shore further from the rest of the state, because who really wants to pay $8 to get across the bridge when almost everything else is readily available on the other side of the Bay? While it may not make or break a trip to Ocean City, it will adversely affect businesses in Queen Anne’s County, and a sampling of those business people will be stating their case at tomorrow’s presser.

Before the tolls take effect, though, there will be a series of public hearings beginning next month. Expect an earful from Eastern Shore residents who are tired of being considered the state’s outhouse when it comes to public policy decisions.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

5 thoughts on “The ‘war on the Shore’ – another shot fired across the bow”

  1. Actually, Michael, a span closer to Salisbury would not make a lot of sense. It would be prohibitively expensive, because of the length AND the need for additional highways. Plus — that is a LONG drive through Southern Maryland to reach a decent crossing point.

    What would make more sense is building a third span with the other two. First, it would give the state the ability to flex the lanes on this bridge to handle rush hour traffic. (There are 80,000 people that commute daily from the mid-shore and Delaware to the Western Shore because they moved there when they were priced out of decent homes up here).

    Second, it would give the state the ability to rotate traffic off one of the other spans for maintenance as needed.

    Third, it could be the first of TWO new spans to be built to replace the originals.

    Finally, all the highway infrastructure is already there…

    But the tolls should NOT be increased but for the following conditions:
    1) the tolls stay with the facility (guaranteeing they can’t raise the Bay Bridge toll to pay for the ICC)
    2) the toll money CANNOT be blended into the transportation trust fund (so it cannot be raided)
    3) 100% of the tolls collected must be spent within a given time period — say three years — on the facility where they were collected.
    4) The state should only be able to raise the EZ Pass account fee by a 3/4 vote of both houses of the General Assembly after certifying to the GA that the cost of account maintenance has actually increased.

  2. On the other hand, wouldn’t a span closer to this end of the Eastern Shore make sense from a tourism standpoint? Ocean City traffic from D.C. and northern Virginia would no longer need the existing bridge, freeing up lane space for commuters.

  3. Michael,

    You have to factor in the fact that once you get below the Choptank– where do you run the highway? Most of that is protected wetlands now, and it will be nigh impossible to build a four-lane divided highway through Blackwater.

    The distance from shore-to-shore is almost double at that point on the bay as well.

    And again– the roads in Southern Maryland (on the western shore) are not built to do east-west… they are built mainly to do north-south.

    The cost would be ENORMOUS, for very little gain.

  4. Harris has NO business in this issue… it is a STATE issue. Is he bored with the federal work? Does he have nothing to do, like reduce the deficit or create jobs? All I see is wasted FEDERAL tax dollars while we pay him and his staff to criticize the STATE officials.

Comments are closed.