Eastern Shore counties may lose 3rd Chesapeake Bay Bridge veto power

For years, Eastern Shore counties have held a trump card in the debate over a third Chesapeake Bay Bridge crossing. 

The counties affected by the construction of a toll bridge can halt the project in its tracks by majority vote.

It's right there in Maryland's book of laws, just below the regulation authorizing officials to put up signs advertising restaurants, hotels and gas stations at highway off-ramps.

And it only applies to the nine counties on the Eastern Shore. 

As the debate over whether a new bridge should be built heats up, two Anne Arundel lawmakers want to remove that obscure obstacle before it can be invoked.

“The fact is we cannot make this a political decision," said state Sen. Edward Reilly, R-33-Anne Arundel. "We have to make this an engineering and a logic decision.” 

More:Could 3rd Chesapeake Bay bridge go through Somerset?

His bill and its companion in the House — sponsored by fellow Anne Arundel Republican Del. Michael Malone — would still give Shore counties veto power over new toll roads. But it would make an exception for any tollway "crossing the Chesapeake Bay."

Heavy summer weekend traffic has dogged the existing two spans for years, and studies predict it will only get worse. Unless more lanes are added, westbound backups could stretch up to 14 miles on certain Sundays by 2040, according to a 2015 analysis by the Maryland Transportation Authority.

The agency, which operates the bridges, is conducting a $5 million National Environmental Policy Act study to decide whether another bridge should be built and, if so, where. It's set for completion in 2020.

“The reality is we need a new bridge or we need to replace the existing bridges," Reilly told the Senate Finance Committee in January. 

Dick Ladd, a former Anne Arundel County Council member, also pressed the committee to support the measure, calling it a "simplifying step to dealing with this extraordinarily complex issue."

More:Chesapeake Bay Bridge: Battle lines drawn over location, necessity for third span

Finance Committee member Sen. Stephen Hershey, R-36-Queen Anne's, said that since the Maryland Transportation Authority hasn't endorsed the legislation, its necessity seems dubious.

“I don’t think it’s prudent to remove any authority from local governments," Hershey said.

The bill smacks of an attempt to strip Eastern Shore residents of their say in Annapolis, said William Short, a Kent County Commissioner. Kent's own growth plan expressly opposes a bay bridge landing in the county.

“If this bill was to go forward, the voice of that 450,000 voices of citizens of Maryland would go as well," Short said.

The House version of the bill is scheduled to go before the chamber's Environment and Transportation Committee on Feb. 15. 

The legislation isn't popular with at least one Eastern Shore delegate.

"Yeah, this ain't happening," Carl Anderton, R-38B-Wicomico, tweeted Monday.

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On Twitter @Jeremy_Cox

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