Congressman Steny Hoyer, left, Md Delegate John Bohanan and Md. Senator Roy Dyson this week at Hoyer’s press conference

As traffic conditions in Southern Maryland seemingly get worse by the day, a state law calling for a regional 21-member commission to study long-term solutions is gathering dust on a shelf somewhere.

It has been eight months since the Maryland General Assembly reaffirmed their commitment to the study by overturning Gov. Bob Ehrlich’s veto in January. Back In 2005, the Assembly approved the study nearly unanimously.

“We really need to get it going on this; we’ve got so many problems,” Maryland Senator Roy Dyson (D.-St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles) told The Bay Net. “It’s the law, you have to do it.”

Dyson for three years has sponsored legislation seeking to study the issue, and during that time it has grown to become the number one issue citizens tell him about in Calvert and St. Mary’s counties.

This week Congressman Steny Hoyer (D. Maryland) held a press conference reaffirming his commitment to traffic solutions. Hoyer, Dyson and other Southern Maryland officials met at a Waldorf park & ride to tout the congressman’s record and advocate future projects to take the pressure off the roadways.

While there were several Charles County government officials present with Hoyer, no one representing St. Mary’s or Calvert counties attended the press conference.

Hoyer has been involved with attaining millions of dollars in road construction funds in Southern Maryland in recent years, including federal money for Chancellors Run Road widening and the Rt. 5 Hughesville bypass.

“In a word, traffic congestion has become abominable in the area, and these backups have ushered in substantial problems that need to be solved now,” Hoyer said.

The congressman is one of the 21 members named to the transportation commission, along with several state senators, delegates and county officials from St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles, Anne Arundel and Prince Georges counties.

Dyson said the goal was to give a serious look at current and future transportation needs.
“Should there been a Waldorf by-pass?” Dyson asked rhetorically. “Should we doing light rail service to Charlotte Hall, or all the way down to the Pax base?”

Dyson said the transportation system in Southern Maryland has not kept pace with the ballooning population and this effort should have been made 10 years ago.

“Things are going to reach a point, because we’re a peninsula we are going to have to think of some kind of alternatives,” Dyson told The Bay Net. “We‘ve got to have a little vision out there, because it’s not always going to work on these roads.”

Former railroad easements exist in Southern Maryland where trains once before ran, and Dyson said he has been an advocate of preserving those track easements for future use.

“If our growth continues at the same pace, in 10 years we’ll be choking, and we shouldn’t kid ourselves, gas prices are never going to go down,” Dyson said.

“Light rail service is one of the possible solutions, and again we don’t have a lot of options be