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The MTA wants to hear from you
The Maryland Transportation Authority is asking for public comment on the Chesapeake Bay
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - If you’ve ever sat in traffic on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and let out a few choice words, well, now’s your chance to say it to the Maryland Transportation Authority directly.
Officials held the first live public comment sessions Wednesday to hear what people think about several ideas for a new Bay crossing, all aimed at alleviating the congestion many Marylanders know all too well.
"I won’t go on a Friday or a Sunday," Anne Kerr said.
"Yeah I’m not a fan," added Fionne Bennett.
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State officials started the process of planning a new Chesapeake Bay Crossing all the way back in 2017. Now, they’ve narrowed things down to four options. One is to do nothing. The other three all involve new construction, including the MDTA’s preferred choice, which would add a new crossing near where the current Bay Bridge is now.
"We don’t know whether it would be a bridge or a bridge tunnel," explained MDTA Project Manager Heather Lowe. "We’d be looking at that in a potential future tier 2 study."
READ MORE: Incident that caused massive delays on Bay Bridge over, officials say
The public comment period for this phase of the project will run until May 10th. Two additional call-in sessions are scheduled for Thursday. Then, in-person sessions are scheduled for next week.
"What we want people to do is take a look at the information that we’ve prepared and let us know your comments," Lowe said.
And surely, people will have a lot to say. At a Wawa just East of the bridge Wednesday, one man told FOX 5 he doesn’t see the project getting done anytime soon, no matter which option is picked. Meanwhile, others were a little more optimistic.
"Whatever they decide to do to make it faster," smiled Bennett, "I’m all for it."
For more information on the public meetings, you can click here.
For more information on the Bay Crossing options, up can click here.