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U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin urged Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. on Thursday to include a protected bike and pedestrian lane on the new Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial/Sen. Thomas 鈥淢ac鈥� Middleton Bridge.
In a letter to the governor, Cardin (D-Md.) wrote, 鈥淪uch a trail would substantially expand the bridge鈥檚 benefits for our economy and our transportation networks.鈥�
The lawmaker, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, pledged to help the state try to聽secure federal funds to build a bike and pedestrian lane that is separate from traffic.
When he announced plans to replace the current span in 2016, Hogan (R) pledged that the new bridge would have four lanes and a separate trail for non-vehicular traffic.
The state later quietly pulled back from that commitment.
The current U.S. 301 span, which connects Charles County, Md., with King George County, Va., was built in 1940 and has just two lanes. It is widely considered to be outdated, dangerous and inadequate for the amount of traffic it handles.
Recently, an influential regional transportation panel chafed at the state鈥檚 request to approve the new project without a firm commitment to include a separate bike/pedestrian lane. Maryland Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary R. Earl Lewis Jr. told the Transportation Planning Board a decision will be made after bids come in.
He said the state will build dedicated bicycle and walking lanes if they are 鈥渁ffordable.鈥� He refused to be more specific. The聽state has many transportation priorities but limited resources, he said.
The controversy divided the panel, which voted 17-7 to advance the project, a rare split for an organization that seeks consensus wherever possible.
In a news release, Cardin urged Hogan to 鈥渉onor the state鈥檚 original commitment.鈥�
鈥淚 understand that funding large infrastructure projects such as this one presents a challenge, and I am eager to partner with you to meet this challenge,鈥� Cardin wrote. 鈥淔ailure to expend every reasonable effort to deliver this bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure as part of a new 鈥� bridge would be to pass up a key opportunity to shape our transportation system of the future.鈥�
James F. Ports Jr., executive director of the Maryland Transportation Authority, told聽Maryland Matters, 鈥淲e鈥檇 be more than happy to work with the senator in finding additional federal funds to complete some of the work.鈥�
鈥淲e are bidding [the project] both ways,鈥� Ports said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e bidding it with an extra lane for pedestrians and bicycles, and without. And from there we鈥檒l determine how it鈥檒l move forward.鈥�
