ARTMA Letter to Chairman Kumar Barve April 2016

April 5, 2016  

Honorable Kumar Barve, Chairman

Environment and Transportation Committee

Maryland House of Delegates

6 Bladen Street

Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Re: SB 056

Dear Chairman Barve:

This is a brief statement to reinforce the position of the Annapolis Regional Transportation Management Association (ARTMA) concerning SB 056 and the absolute need to consider optional Bay crossing locations.  ARTMA offers the following three points for your consideration:

1. The State and National Treasure that is the Annapolis Region and its environs cannot absorb the congestion, pollution, and irreparable economic harm that expansion of the existing twin spans will serve upon both Anne Arundel and Queen Ann’s Counties.  A second crossing south to draw off Washington DC, Eastern Shore bound traffic offers permanent traffic relief for the Annapolis Region.

1. We of ARTMA also find it potentially short sighted to ignore the opportunity for substantial economic growth, mobility, and security for Maryland that another corridor located somewhere between the existing crossing and the Norfolk, VA bridge and Tunnel crossing 170 miles south of Annapolis would offer. 

1. The recent Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) report on the Twin Bridges indicates a looming need to perform significant maintenance to maintain structural integrity.  However the report clearly placed a definitive time line on the ability of the existing structures to accommodate traffic demands as projected volumes increase.  Recent traffic volume counts from MdTA indicate that those projected volumes were too conservative.  The future congestion levels will therefore come much sooner than predicted in the LCCA report.  How much sooner?

SB 056 is the means to begin the process that addresses the three points noted above in a manner that is immediately fundable.  This is both a door to opportunity and perhaps a means to avoid disaster in our State’s Capitol.  Clearly time is extremely short to assess and respond properly to the situation.  We at ARTMA urge you to move quickly to pass SB 056 and create a proactive path forward for mobility and economic vitality.

Respectfully,

David Humphreys, P.E.

Executive Director