ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maps showing new details on 14 possible options for a new Chesapeake Bay crossing have been revealed by a Baltimore County legislator.
The possible crossing sites range from a link in the north that would connect I-95 near Aberdeen to upper Cecil County on the Eastern Shore to a proposed alignment in the south linking Rt. 5 in Lexington Park to Princess Anne in Somerset County on the lower Eastern Shore.
Other possible sites include connecting Rt. 2-4 in Calvert County to Cambridge as well as three possible alignments through Anne Arundel County. Expansion of the existing William Preston Lane Bridge is among the considerations.
The maps are marked “pre-decisional”, “deliberative” and “draft” and are not intended for final public release.
They are part of a $5 million National Environmental Policy Act study commissioned by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and the Maryland Transportation Authority in 2016.
The documents provide the most detailed glimpse yet of sites under possible consideration by Maryland transportation planners and study participants.
The maps show the potential impacts on critical wetland areas, prime farmland and residential zones.
A new bridge is expected to have major economic, environmental, and development impacts in any of the 14 corridors that may be selected.
The maps were posted to Facebook by Baltimore County Republican Delegate Robin Grammar February 8.
Three of the potential crossing sites are in Baltimore County.
Grammar’s post has generated more than 580 comments so far.
Public hearings on a future bay crossing are expected to be held in the fall of 2019 with a final recommendation in early 2020, according to the MdTA’s website.
A future bay crossing is projected to cost at least $10 billion dollars and would most likely be financed by bonds and tolls.