La Plata, MD – There weren’t that many folks who showed up to speak at the Charles County Commissioners public hearing Tuesday, July 11 for proposed lighting on a new bridge spanning Neale Sound in Cobb Island, but those that did spoke volumes.
The Maryland Department of Transportation has proposed 18 lights 35 feet in height, 40 feet apart.
“I’m in favor of some lighting, but not this lighting,” said Cobb Island resident Charlotte Sampson. “So many people are there for the view. I am in favor of lighting down on the rail or down on the sidewalk, but I oppose this type of lighting.
“That would be obstructing any night viewing,” she said.
“From where I live, my look is straight at that bridge,” said Cobb Islander Doug Brown. “It is a beautiful view. I’m not aware of any accidents that occurred on the bridge. These lights are not necessary for this bridge in my view.”
Brown went on to educate the commissioners from the Maryland Department of Transportation’s own “Bridge Users Guide.”
“It says right in this book, ‘wherever possible, avoid placing lighting on bridges,’” he read. “The book goes on to say that any lighting should be kept at an absolute minimum. This seems to be an awful amount of lights for a bridge.”
Resident Bill Hocker said his fear was that the lighting would encourage people to camp out under the bridge, something he said has become a major problem.
“Our community [police] officer suggested we should call now if we see people under there,” Hocker said. “He said he went under the bridge and it was absolutely disgusting. This weekend I initiated my first call and I intend to keep doing that.
“Lights would be just one more change in the aesthetics for the island,” he added. “Lighting on the bridge would promote things that shouldn’t be there in the first place.”
Charles County Commissioner President Peter Murphy [D] asked Director of Public Works Bill Shreve when the state needed their answer. “You indicated the state was looking for a decision sooner rather than later,” Murphy said.
“They wanted an answer last week,” Shreve replied. “I told them we were having a public hearing on the issue this week and they reluctantly agreed to wait until after this hearing.”
Commissioner Bobby Rucci [D-District 4] asked if lighting couldn’t just be placed on the railing instead of having them 35 feet up in the air.
“If we’re not going to put the lighting in, we would just pull that from the design,” Shreve said. “We won’t keep the lights in if the citizens don’t want it.”
Commissioner Ken Robinson [D-District 1] asked if they could have another week so that citizens who were not able to attend the hearing could weigh in through written comment.
“I know the state wants an answer now,” he added.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Shreve said. “I can be pretty persuasive sometimes.”
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com