Newburg, MD – A bill to set aside $75 million a year for the next 10 years to engineer and build a new Potomac River bridge from Charles County to King George County in Virginia passed overwhelmingly in the 2016 Maryland legislative session and now awaits a decision by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan [R].

Charles County Senator Mac Middleton [D – District 28] said Thursday, April 21 that should the governor veto the bill, he feels confident the House and Senate could override the veto, but said he would rather it not come to that.

“I have said all along in all of the news stories, my preference would be to have a memorandum of understanding with the Maryland Transportation Authority,” Middleton said.

A Baltimore Sun article dated March 13 quoted Hogan as saying the 76-year-old Gov. Harry W. Nice Bridge connecting Maryland and Virginia might have to last another 30 years.

Middleton said he amended the bill to alleviate concerns concerning floated bonds by the transportation authority and the money generated by the extra $2 placed on the crossing by previous Governor Martin O’Malley.

The bill also calls for the older span to be torn down and reconstructed after the new span is complete.

The concern, he noted, is that the Navy base at Dahlgren draws a significant number of Charles County citizens on a daily basis.

“It’s very important that they are disrupted as little as possible, but can get back and forth,” he said.

Another measure suggesting placing a Maryland gambling location in Colonial Beach, VA, that could have generated about $40 million a year in revenue for the new span, 93 percent of which would come from outside the state of Maryland, did not pass.

A third measure also failed, but Middleton said the concept of a third span for the Chesapeake Bay was not one that would go away.

The current spans across the Chesapeake date to 1952 and 1973 and more often than not are backed up during summer months.

“It backs up and traffic goes through Annapolis and the local streets just get jammed,” he said.

Such an effort will require looking at potential sites on either side of the bay, and that it could take 25 years to build the bridge.

The preliminary work should get started sooner rather than later, he said.

While that may be an effort for the future, the true jewel of the three bills, the promise of a long-needed span across the Potomac River was undoubtedly a major accomplishment.

“It is,” he admitted. 

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com