J00J00 – Maryland Transportation Authority
Updates
1.
Chesapeake Bay Crossing Study Tier 2 NEPA Continues
In 2017, MDTA initiated a formal process under NEPA to consider options for the addition of a third Chesapeake Bay bridge crossing. The Chesapeake Bay Crossing Study: Tier 1 NEPA developed and considered various alternatives for the location of a third span of the Bay Bridge. The Tier 1 Final EIS and ROD were approved by FHWA in April 2022. FHWA designated Corridor 7/Existing Corridor (US 50/301 to US 50 from the Severn River Bridge in Anne Arundel County to the US 50/301 split in Queen Anne’s County) as th e Preferred Corridor Alternative. The Chesapeake Bay Crossing Study: Tier 2 NEPA was subsequently launched in June 2022 to develop and analyze various build alternatives within the study limits of the Preferred Corridor Alternative. Goals of the Tier 2 study include evaluating measures to reduce traffic congestion, improve travel times and reliability, mobility, and roadway deficiencies, and to accommodate maintenance activities and navigation while minimizing impacts to local communities and the environment. MDTA hosted a series of informational open houses in calendar 2022 and 2023 to solicit primary feedback on the Tier 2 study and to consider several key elements in the development of proposed alternatives including structure type, alignment relative to existing approaches on US 50/301, the number of lanes, the structure location relative to the existing bridge spans, transit options, and the inclusion of a shared use path separate from travel lanes. In November 2024, a NOI to prepare the Tier 2 EIS was published in the Federal Register to formally initiate the environmental review process. MDTA held three public open houses in December 2024 to present information and solicit feedback on the MDTA’s proposed actions for the Bay Bridge and proposed Alternatives Retained for Detailed Study and other issues to be evaluated in the EIS. In developing its proposed alternatives, MDTA determined that instead of building a third bridge span, both existing bridge spans should be removed and replaced with two new larger bridge spans, and that the new bridge spans should utilize the existing alignments of US 50/301 to minimize socioeconomic and environmental impacts. The proposed retained alternatives developed by MDTA include a combination of lane configurations and structure locations relative to the existing bridge spans. These combinations include both the number of lanes of the bridge itself, as well as the number of lanes of the approach roadways. For example, a 6-8-6 lane configuration would include six lanes on the approach roadways on either side of the bridge (three lanes in each direction), and eight lanes on the bridge itself (four lanes in each direction). Structure location combinations include constructing both new bridge spans to the immediate north or south of the existing bridge spans, or one span to the north or south and one span in between the existing bridge spans. To minimize traffic impacts during construction, both existing bridge spans would remain open until one or both of the new bridge spans is complete.
Analysis of the FY 2026 Maryland Executive Budget, 2025 28
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